Is Pollution Causing Cancer in Beluga Whales?

Photo: Marco Langlois. University of Montreal This female beluga whale was found dead floating in the St. Lawrence near Tadoussac, Quebec. The head of her calf was visible at the external genital opening when the whale was submitted for postmortem. The St. Lawrence River is so polluted, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation warns people who fish the river off New York's shores not to eat any American eel, channel catfish, carp, Chinook salmon, lake trout over 25 inches in

Myrna Watanabe

Oct 1, 2000 | 9 min read

Photo: Marco Langlois. University of Montreal

This female beluga whale was found dead floating in the St. Lawrence near Tadoussac, Quebec. The head of her calf was visible at the external genital opening when the whale was submitted for postmortem.

The St. Lawrence River is so polluted, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation warns people who fish the river off New York's shores not to eat any American eel, channel catfish, carp, Chinook salmon, lake trout over 25 inches in length, or brown trout over 20 inches in length. The department further warns that white perch, white sucker, rainbow trout, smaller lake and brown trout, and coho salmon over 25 inches taken from the river should be eaten, at most, only one time per month.

"The St. Lawrence itself is draining one-fourth of North America's most industrialized area, and the Great Lakes, which are in the center of...

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