A new study has found contaminants that were banned decades ago are still imperiling critically endangered California condors.
A new study has found contaminants that were banned decades ago are still imperiling critically endangered California condors. The condors may be at increased risk for reproductive impairment because they consume dead marine mammals along the California coast.
The research, led by San Diego State University (SDSU) and San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance (SDZWA) scientists, in collaboration with Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, found that marine mammals stranded on the California coast harbor relatively high levels of halogenated organic contaminants (HOCs). Researchers detected more than 400 contaminants in samples taken from stranded marine mammals that California condors may feed on.
On the California coast, the marine mammals had an estimated seven times more DDT and 3.5 times more PCBs than their counterparts in Baja California, Mexico. Other lesser-studied compounds were also detected. One group of these compounds was estimated to be 148 times more abundant in California marine mammals compared to those in Baja California.
The study, published May 17 in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, also reveals that coastal condors have more contaminants in their blood than inland condors, which lack a marine mammal diet.
Read more at San Diego State University
Image: A new study has found contaminants, banned decades ago, are still imperiling critically endangered California condors. The condors may be at increased risk for reproductive impairment because they consume dead marine mammals along the California coast. (Credit: Courtesy of San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance)
