Danger at sea: Toxic metals threaten whales

Source: Associated Press

Danger at sea: Toxic metals threaten whales
By ARTHUR MAX
The Associated Press
Thursday, June 24, 2010; 2:37 PM

AGADIR, Morocco -- American scientists who shot nearly 1,000 sperm whales with tissue-sampling darts discovered stunningly high levels of toxic and heavy metals in the animals that they say could affect the health of both ocean life and the millions who eat seafood.

A report Thursday noted high levels of cadmium, aluminum, chromium, lead, silver, mercury and titanium in the mammals, according to samples taken over five years.

Analysis of cells from the sperm whales showed that pollution is reaching the farthest corners of the oceans, from deep in the polar region to "the middle of nowhere" in the equatorial regions, said biologist Roger Payne, founder and president of Ocean Alliance that conducted the research. The whales travel on voyages up to 87,000 miles (140,000 kilometers).

"The entire ocean life is just loaded with a series of contaminants, most of which have been released by human beings," Payne said in an interview on the sidelines of the International Whaling Commission's annual meeting.



Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/24/AR2010062403602.html

Uh, you mean they float around in water as an ionic suspension forever? Whoops, sorry.

Well, not exactly forever, until a whale or other creature with gills comes and filters them out of suspension...

The sad thing is that people don't make the connection to what they breathe in to their lungs everday, where it goes, how the body deals with it, etc, etc. etc.

The human lung can accumulate up to a tablespoon of microparticulates every day. Nobody asks where it goes, until the examples like the purple goo exuding from the first responders skin weeks after 911 come to light and people realize that the steadily accumulation of toxic material is not "Coughed Up", "Moved up by cilia to the esophagus and swallowed", but is actually absorbed into the bloodstream and expelled vie skin, processed by liver and kidneys, or other waste removal systems, or worse, accumulated in fatty tissue, or bone.

Wake up Humans, Air Breathers and Water breathers are more similar than you can imagine. Even trees breathe air and can die or become diseased if the air is too dirty or contaminated.

Just look around...

by NOAA (IIRC) to collect a 'clean' air sample. They flew as far and high as they could into the remotest spot possible, and couldn't get away from a significant concentration of industrial emissions...

Breaking News: Would You Like a Side of Toxic Metal With Your Order of Whale Meat?
Posted by Arkisaeo in Conservation, Nature, Pollution, Science & Technology, Wildlife & Flora, 3 hours ago

A shocking report on a Sperm Whale study released today may turn a lot of heads—both pro-whaling and anti-whaling activists alike.

The report, issued by conservation and research group Ocean Alliance, shows that high levels of aluminum, cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury, silver and titanium are found in tissue samples taken by dart gun from 955 whales, over a period of more than 5 years (starting in 2000). The whales ranged across 87,000 miles, from polar regions to the equator and it’s believed the ingested toxic and heavy metals may have come from humans thousands of miles away. Oh, and don’t worry, the dart gun only collected samples the size of a pencil eraser and did no more harm to the whale than a mosquito would do to us.

Now, as for what was done with the samples after collection, well, they were sent to marine toxicologist, John Wise, at the University of Southern Maine for analysis. To make sure samples were not collected from the same whale more than once, DNA was also compared. Surprisingly, the purpose of the original voyage had nothing to do with metals—it was intended for measuring persistent organic pollutants (POPs); so, you can bet the researchers were shocked at the results.

More:
http://www.greenfudge.org/2010/06/25/breaking-news-would-you-like-a-side-of-toxic-metal-with-your-order-of-whale-meat/

Source: Associated Press

Report: Toxins found in whales bode ill for humans

By ARTHUR MAX (AP) – 4 hours ago

AGADIR, Morocco — Sperm whales feeding even in the most remote reaches of Earth's oceans have built up stunningly high levels of toxic and heavy metals, according to American scientists who say the findings spell danger not only for marine life but for the millions of humans who depend on seafood.

A report released Thursday noted high levels of cadmium, aluminum, chromium, lead, silver, mercury and titanium in tissue samples taken by dart gun from nearly 1,000 whales over five years. From polar areas to equatorial waters, the whales ingested pollutants that may have been produced by humans thousands of miles away, the researchers said.

"These contaminants, I think, are threatening the human food supply. They certainly are threatening the whales and the other animals that live in the ocean," said biologist Roger Payne, founder and president of Ocean Alliance, the research and conservation group that produced the report.

The researchers found mercury as high as 16 parts per million in the whales. Fish high in mercury such as shark and swordfish — the types health experts warn children and pregnant women to avoid — typically have levels of about 1 part per million.

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jyGXoKzZgWDD3YCQM-DDrM2njZOwD9GHSMEO0

I hope that somehow we have time to reverse this mess.

BTW, Mercury doesn't break down too well. Remains for a long long long time.

If the oceans die, we die

to make earth one toxic waste dump. If we don't manage to blow each other up, toxins such as this will get us.

BTW- if you haven't see Gasland (was on HBO) it is excellent. It will be worse than the gulf oil mess. ...brought to you by fine companies akin to BP and Halliburton.

just fine. humans have to inject greed, hostility, and dominance into the equation

Anyone who would like please read the Hopi Prophecy's. We are up to the Seas Running black.

We're poisoning our oceans.

We are indeed continuing to poison our means of life.

-Hoot

the more who die young, the better.

The sequestration of heavy metals, carbon, methane and so on by natural forces is a major part of what has allowed life to evolve and proliferate on this planet.

Our species will not long survive our greed driven stupidity.