PARENT SESSION
TA2 - Wildlife Toxicology
Chair: Bishop, Christine1, 1 5421 Robertson Road, Delta, British Columbia, CANADA
Co-chair: Elliott, John1, 1 5421 Robertson Road, Delta, British Columbia, CANADA
8:00 AM to 12:00 PM - Tuesday, 19 November 2002
Room Ballroom J
(337) Chlorinated hydrocarbons in fish and osprey from alpine and reference areas of British Columbia.
Elliott, John*,1, Shaw, Patrick2, Wayland, Mark3, Wilson, Laurie1, Kardosi, Gabi1, Muir, Derek4, 1 Canadian Wildlife Service, Delta, BC, Canada2 Environment Canada, Vancouver, BC, Canada3 Canadian Wildlife Service, Saskatoon, SK, Canada4 National Water Research Institute, Burlington, ON, Canada
ABSTRACT- We collected eggs and nestling plasma of ospreys, and prey fish samples between 1999 and 2001 from water bodies situated at varying elevations and degrees of past chlorinated hydrocarbon input throughout British Columbia. Study sites included lower elevation lakes with a previous history of chlorinated hydrocarbon inputs, hydro reservoirs draining primarily glacial and other alpine areas and some smaller higher elevation lakes. Osprey eggs were analyzed immediately after collection and those nests having eggs with relatively elevated DDE concentrations were targeted for trapping and satellite tagging of adults ospreys. Blood samples were taken from chicks. at all successful nests.A subset of study areas and nests were observed during the breeding season to identify osprey prey species. Satellite tracking (N = 15) revealed wintering locations of ospreys, where we attempted to make further diet observations and collect fish samples. Highest concentrations of DDE (205 ug/kg wet wt.) in fish were found in samples of rainbow trout from a small lake at 1817m elevation in Revelstoke Park. We did not observe any successful breeding of osprey at such elevations. With the exception of an egg from Exshaw Lake,a mid-elevation lake in Alberta, with 15 mg/kg DDE, all osprey eggs had < 5 mg/kg DDE. Plasma sampling of chicks did not indicate any exceptional uptake of DDE in alpine drainages; chicks from the south Okanagan valley, an area of known DDE contamination, exhibited breeding ground uptake of DDE. Sampling of prey fish from both breeding and wintering grounds were consistent with the generally low levels of chlorinated hydrocarbons in osprey samples.
Key words: organochlorines, alpine, osprey, telemetry