Rhinoceros Auklet (Cerorhinca monocerata) at the Alaska Sea Life Center in Seward, AlaskaWIKIMEDIA, DICK DANIELSThe oceans are the ultimate sink for most human wastes. That includes the persistent end products of our chemical technology. For at least 45 years, we have realized that toxic contaminants, such as DDT and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), have contaminated even the most remote polar marine ecosystems. Sampling the vast expanse of ocean has posed a challenge, but is necessary to understand where and how these toxins are distributed to limit exposure of wildlife and ourselves.
Fortunately, colonial nesting aquatic birds provide efficient and effective means to conduct such sampling. Seabirds are veritable sampling avatars, widely distributed across all the world’s oceans yet returning annually to a geographically confined area; in an afternoon, a seabird biologist can effectively sample from a region that would take weeks using a scientific vessel, which can cost $1.6 million per week to run. In contrast, for a few hundred dollars in gas money and a small boat, a seabird biologist can collect 10-20 eggs that reflect the contaminant profile of an ocean region covering several hundred square kilometres. The sampling has a minimal effect on seabird populations numbering in the millions. The lipid-rich avian egg provides an ideal, simple matrix to measure the persistent, bioaccumulative, ...
