Dolphins accumulate pollutants in their blubber. Bottlenose dolphins are thus a sensitive indicator for persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in coastal ecosystems. Brian C. Balmer, a long time member of the SDRP team, just completed his doctoral work. His research examined the effect of pollution from a Superfund site in Georgia on bottlenose dolphins. Congratulations to [...]

Sarasota Bay dolphins did show a significantly higher proportion of chlordane relative to other locations except northern Biscayne Bay and Tampa Bay.

For my dissertation, I am working with NOAA to compare bottlenose dolphin populations near EPA superfund sites in Georgia to those at a nearby national estuarine reserve. The Turtle/Brunswick River Estuary (TBRE) located in Glynn County, Georgia, includes the Turtle and Brunswick Rivers, St. Simons Sound, St. Simons Island, and Jekyll Island. The LCP Chemical [...]

Since POC mixtures differ in toxicity, there may be health implications associated with the shifts in contaminant profiles throughout the lifetime of Sarasota bottlenose dolphins.

Bottlenose dolphins are long-lived, fish-eating marine mammals that are at or near the top of the food web in coastal ecosystems. As a result, they are vulnerable to accumulating heavy burdens of persistent organohalogen contaminants (POCs). POCs are man-made compounds that are used in industry, agricultural and domestic settings as electrical insulating fluids, flame retardants [...]

Organohalogen compounds, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and chlorinated pesticides were manufactured by man to provide materials such as electrical transformers, flame retardants and insecticides. These compounds were released into the environment before their toxicities and environmental consequences were fully understood. Although currently banned from production, these compounds which were synthesized for their stability, have [...]

Thousands of anthropogenic (man-made) chemicals have been detected in air, soil and water worldwide. Emerging compounds, such as perfluorinated chemicals, which are used in paints, adhesives, polishes, and fire-fighting foams as well as stain repellent for clothes, furnitures and carpets have recently been detected in human blood and wildlife. Perfluorinated compounds are known to be [...]

Man has had a large impact on the health of the marine ecosystem. Over-fishing, pollution, oil exploration and shipping activities, to name a few, have indirectly affected marine mammals throughout the world. Many of these impacts have been to affect the ‘health’ of the individuals in the population so that their reproductive capacity or survival [...]