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Peterson SH, Peterson MG, Ackerman JT, Debier C, Goetsch C, Holser RR, Hückstädt LA, Johnson JC, Keates TR, McDonald BI, McHuron EA, Costa DP. Foraging behavior and age affect maternal transfer of mercury to northern elephant seal pups. Sci Rep 2024; 14:4693. [PMID: 38409311 PMCID: PMC10897339 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-54527-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2023] [Accepted: 02/13/2024] [Indexed: 02/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Deep ocean foraging northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris) consume fish and squid in remote depths of the North Pacific Ocean. Contaminants bioaccumulated from prey are subsequently transferred by adult females to pups during gestation and lactation, linking pups to mercury contamination in mesopelagic food webs (200-1000 m depths). Maternal transfer of mercury to developing seal pups was related to maternal mercury contamination and was strongly correlated with maternal foraging behavior (biotelemetry and isotopes). Mercury concentrations in lanugo (hair grown in utero) were among the highest observed worldwide for young pinnipeds (geometric mean 23.01 μg/g dw, range 8.03-63.09 μg/g dw; n = 373); thus, some pups may be at an elevated risk of sub-lethal adverse health effects. Fetal mercury exposure was affected by maternal foraging geographic location and depth; mercury concentrations were highest in pups of the deepest diving, pelagic females. Moreover, pup lanugo mercury concentrations were strongly repeatable among successive pups of individual females, demonstrating relative consistency in pup mercury exposure based on maternal foraging strategies. Northern elephant seals are biosentinels of a remote deep-sea ecosystem. Our results suggest that mercury within North Pacific mesopelagic food webs may also pose an elevated risk to other mesopelagic-foraging predators and their offspring.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah H Peterson
- Western Ecological Research Center, Dixon Field Station, U.S. Geological Survey, 800 Business Park Drive Suite D, Dixon, CA, USA.
- Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA.
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA.
| | - Michael G Peterson
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Joshua T Ackerman
- Western Ecological Research Center, Dixon Field Station, U.S. Geological Survey, 800 Business Park Drive Suite D, Dixon, CA, USA
| | - Cathy Debier
- Louvain Institute of Biomolecular Science and Technology, Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
| | - Chandra Goetsch
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
- CSS, Inc, Fairfax, VA, USA
| | - Rachel R Holser
- Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Luis A Hückstädt
- Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK
| | - Jennifer C Johnson
- Moss Landing Marine Labs, San Jose State University, Moss Landing, CA, USA
| | - Theresa R Keates
- Department of Ocean Sciences, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | | | - Elizabeth A McHuron
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Daniel P Costa
- Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
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