Ocean Alliance: Gulf sperm whales may be most polluted in the world [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

Ocean Alliance: Gulf sperm whales may be most polluted in the world
By Dennis Pillion | [e-mail]
on August 06, 2013 at 1:19 PM, updated August 06, 2013 at 1:21 PM

PENSACOLA, Florida -- Researchers with Ocean Alliance are finishing up the third year of a field study of sperm whales in the Gulf of Mexico and the group says preliminary findings indicate that sperm whales in the Gulf are showing significantly higher levels of heavy metals, including nickel and chromium, than sperm whales in other parts of the world.

The research team, a collaborative effort between Ocean Alliance and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, has been studying Gulf sperm whales by using a biopsy dart to collect a small skin and blubber sample from the animals. The cells are cultured on board the 93-foot Odyssey research vessel for further tests.

"The cautionary signs are really suggesting to us that these may be some of the most polluted whales we've found in the world," Ocean Alliance CEO Iain Kerr said in a press conference at the Palafox Pier in Pensacola.

Ocean Alliance, a non-profit whale conservation group, has been studying sperm whales since 2000. Kerr said a five-year study performed on sperm whales around the world from 2000-2005 was "vital" in providing baseline data to show that sperm whales in the Gulf are being polluted.

More:
http://blog.al.com/gulf-coast/2013/08/ocean_alliance_gulf_sperm_whal.html