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Coastal Birds Carry Toxic Ocean Metals Inland

A collaborative research team led by Queen's University biologists has found that potent metals like mercury and lead, ingested by Arctic seabirds feeding in the ocean, end up in the sediment of polar ponds.

"Birds feeding on different diets will funnel different 'cocktails' of metal contaminants from the ocean back to terrestrial ecosystems, which can then affect other living organisms," says lead author Neal Michelutti, a research scientist at Queen's Paleoecological Environmental Assessment and Research Lab (PEARL).

The study will be published on-line the week of May 24 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA.

ScienceDaily - www.sciencedaily.com
30 May 2010
Photo credit: Mark Mallory

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Cited Journal Article
>>>Trophic position influences the efficacy of seabirds as metal biovectors. PNAS. 2010 May 24. [Epub ahead of print].

Undiagnosed die-off, antelopes - Kazakhstan (04): toxin susp. RFI

In response to ProMED-mail's repeated requests for information regarding a die-off in Saiga antelopes in West Kazakhstan, we have received from a reliable source the following report, derived from a local Internet website in Kazakhstan:

"In an interview with Kazakhstan's media a hunter from West Kazakhstan region declared that the official version of pasteurellosis is unlikely, while there is an obvious poisoning of saiga.

During visual examination of dead animals, sanitary doctors discovered a swollen belly, and on the faces of the animals -- green-coloured foam.

ProMED-mail - www.promedmail.org
31 May 2010

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After the oil spill: New research sheds light on coral susceptibility to environmental stress

Much attention has been paid to the fate of wildlife living on and above the Gulf of Mexico's surface.

Now, a new research study published in the June 2010 print issue of the FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org) looks toward the seafloor to explain coral susceptibility to disease outbreaks when they encounter environmental stress and to set the stage for understanding exactly what type of undersea environment is necessary to promote coral health and growth after the oil spill cleanup.

In addition, this research also opens doors for the development of new tools that can assess the health of corals, which is important when trying to establish manmade reefs or to save ones that already exist.

EurekAlert - www.eurekalert.org
01 Jun 2010

>>>FULL ARTICLE

Cited Journal Article
>>>Levels of immunity parameters underpin bleaching and disease susceptibility of reef corals. FASEB Journal. 2010 Jun; 24: 1935-1946.

Related News

>>>Fears grow over oil spill's long-term effects on food chain

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