PARENT SESSION
PS14 - Environmental Contaminants in Marine Mammals
Sunday, 17 November 2002
8:00 AM to 6:30 PM
Exhibit Hall

(P141) Variations in Life History Parameters of Steller Sea-lions, Eumetopias Jubatus, Affect Maternal Transfer of PCBs.

Montie, Eric^*,1, Klanjscek, Tin¹, ¹ Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, USA

ABSTRACT- Marine mammals have the highest polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contaminant burdens in wildlife worldwide. Research evidence from wild and captive studies suggests that first-born animals receive much higher contaminant burdens than subsequent pups/calves. The initial, rapid transfer of this contaminant burden to the first-born during lactation is cause for concern. Using a beluga whale model described by Hickie et al. (1) as a base, a new model was constructed to determine the effect of variations in life history parameters (diet, age to first pup, and duration of lactation) on PCB exposure to first-born pups in Steller sea lions, Eumetopias jubatus. MathWorks Simulink (Matlab v5.3) was used to create the model. Using parameters from the literature, the model predicts realistic PCB concentrations in pups and females inhabiting Alaskan waters and the Russian Bering Sea. The model shows that first-born pups receive the highest contaminant burden compared to subsequent pups. It also shows that varying life history parameters can drastically affect PCB exposure to the first-born pup (increasing the age to first birth increases exposure to the first-born pup). The model will be extremely useful in identifying sensitive species with life history parameters that result in high exposure to first-born pups.

Key words: Marine Mammals, PCBs, Modeling