1. NPRB Project No. 534 Interim Analytical Results
Expanding the Seabird Tissue
Archival and Monitoring
Project in the North Pacific
Interim Analytical Results
NPRB Project No. 534
David G. Roseneau, Paul R. Becker, Steven J. Christopher, Glenn K. Chen,
W. Clay Davis, Rusty D. Day, Michael B. Ellisor, David Point, Rebecca S. Pugh, Kristin Simac, Stacy S. Vander Pol, and Geoffrey S. York

2. Long History of Using Seabird Eggs for Environmental Monitoring and Research
Canadian Wildlife Service has used seabird eggs for monitoring chemicals in the environment since 1968

3. Advantages of using seabird eggs for monitoring
Contain bioaccumulative contaminants
Representative of female exposure
Indicative of the contaminant burden of the next generation
Relatively easily collected
Relatively low inter-colony variability (enhanced statistical power)

4. Factors to consider when using seabird eggs
Effect of egg laying sequence
Representation of area (where bird is exposed)
Position of species in food web
Shifts in food source
Effect on contaminant concentration in the food
Effect on energy content of the food
Egg collection logistics

5. POPs - common murre (Marth et al. 2000) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
POPs - common murre (Marth et al. 2000)
POPs & PBDEs – common murre (Bignert et al. 1995)
PBDEs – common murre (Kierkegaard et al. 1999)
POPs & Hg - herring gull, common & thick-billed murre, black-legged kittiwake, razorbill, puffin (Barrett et al. 1985; 1996)
POPs & Hg - thick-billed murre, black-legged
kittiwake, northern fulmar
(Braune et al. 2001; 2002)
POPs – herring gull (Elliott 1985;
Wakeford & Kasserra 1997;
Hebert 1999)
PBDEs – herring gull
(Norstrom et al. 2002)
First “biomagnifying natural
POPs” reported - Leach’s
storm petrel (Tittlemier et al.
1999; 2002)*
Dioxin, PCBs, & PBDEs - Caspian,
Forsters, least tern (She et al. 2004)
*(halogenated dimethyl bypyrroles)

6. Use of Seabird Eggs for Environmental Monitoring in Alaska
Bering Sea & Gulf of Alaska - 15 species: geographic comparison of POPs in 18 colonies from collections during 1970s (Ohlendorf et al. 1982)
Chukchi Sea, Bering Sea, & Gulf of Alaska – herring, glaucous, glaucous-winged gull: geographic comparisons of POPs and heavy metals in 5 colonies (Jack and Martinez 2003)

7. Persistent Bioaccumulative Contaminants
Organohalogen Compounds (OCs):
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) – 50 congeners
DDT compounds - 6 dominated by 4,4’-DDE
Chlordane compounds - 5 dominated by trans-nonachlor and oxychlordane
Heptachlor epoxide
Dieldrin
Hexachlorobenezene (HCB)
Hexachlorocyclohexane (a-, b-, g-)
Mirex
Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) – 11 congeners
Metals and Organometallic Compounds:
Mercury, methylmercury, butyltin compounds (mono-, di-, tri-)

8. Colonies with analytical results
St. Lazaria I.
Viesokoi Rock
Hooper Bay
Little Diomede I.
Bogoslof I.
St. George I.
East Amatuli I.
Colonies with analytical results
Noatak
Thick-billed murres (Uria lomvia)
Common murres (U. aalge)
Glaucous gulls (Larus hyperboreus)
Glaucous-winged gulls (L. glaucescens)
Togiak
OCs
Hg, MeHg
Butyl-Sn
PBDEs
MeHg
St. Lawrence I.
Cape Lisburne

9. Why murres? Global distribution Do not migrate great distances
Diving fish feeders
Lay large single egg
Eggs important in subsistence diets
COMU
TBMU

10. Why gulls? Global distribution Feed on: fish and invertebrates
other bird’s eggs
garbage dumps
animal carcasses
Eggs important in subsistence diets
2 - 3 egg clutch
GWGU
GLGU

11. Geographic Patterns?

12. Total Mercury, Common Murres
East Amatuli I.
St. George I.
Bogoslof I.
Little Diomede
Total Mercury, Common Murres
From: Christopher et al. 2002
> 95 % in the form of methyl-Hg
St. Lazaria I.

13. n=9
n=11
n=10
From: Vander Pol et al. 2004
Common Murres

14. Common & Thick-billed Murres3 9 7 11 10
n =
Gulf of Alaska
Bering Sea
From: Vander Pol et al. 2004
& Vander Pol, unpublished
Common & Thick-billed Murres
Chukchi Sea

15. Total Mercury Bering Sea Gulf of Alaska BO = Bogoslof I
LD = Little Diomede I
SG = St. George I
EA = East Amatuli I
SL = St. Lazaria I
CO = Common murre
TB = Thick-billed murre
BOCO
LDCO
SGCO
SGTB
BOTB
EACO
SLCO
1999
2001
SLTB
Bering Sea
Gulf of Alaska
From: Christopher et al. 2002;
Day, et al. in press

16. Comparisons to other colonies Common Murre Thick-Billed Murre
Stora Karlsö
E. Finmark & Kola Peninsula
Svaldbard
Prince Leopold I.
Farrallon I.
STAMP Colonies
Comparisons to
other colonies

17. ng/g wet mass ± 91 CA, USA 1993 Norway 1992-1993 Alaska, USA 1999-2000
E. Canada
1998
± 91
ng/g wet mass CO TB SP

18. Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs
Common Murre
Thick-billed Murre
Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs
Wide variation in values; no significant differences between species; BDEs 17, 71, 66, 85, and 138 were below the limit of detection
From: Vander Pol, unpublished
St. Lazaria I., Gulf of Alaska

19. Species Differences?

20. Murres Hg: St. Lazaria – COMU > TBMU
From: Vander Pol et al. 2004; Vander Pol unpublished; Day et al. in press
Murres
Hg: St. Lazaria – COMU > TBMU
Bogoslof & St. George – TBMU > COMU
OCs: St. Lazaria – COMU = TBMU
(except for HCB)

21. Organotin Compounds Murres sampled in 1999 Gulls sampled in 2005
Pelicans sampled in 2005
Common murre
Little Diomede
n=6
Common
murre
St. George I. n=6
East Amatuli I.
St. Lazaria I. n=7
Glaucous gull
Noatak
n=5
Hooper Bay
Glaucous-winged gull
Togiak
Sitka
Brown pelican
Charleston, SC
n=2
Organotin Compounds
MBT = monobutyltin
DBT = dibutyltin
TBT = tributyltin
Chukchi Sea
Bering Sea
Gulf of Alaska
Atlantic

22. Temporal Trends?

23. Values are ng/g wet mass
Bogoslof I.
St. George I.
+ 266
1999
2000 *
Values are ng/g wet mass
From: Ohlendorf et al & Vander Pol et al. 2004

24. Summary - Murres
For most OCs & Hg: Gulf of Alaska > Bering Sea (HCB shows a reverse pattern)
OCs & Hg: Alaska murres £ murres from other parts of the northern hemisphere
Differences in TBMU vs COMU vary by region
Organotin: murres > gulls
Too early to see temporal trends
Difficult to compare to 1970s work of Ohlendorf, but contemporary murres generally have lower OCs, except for HCB

25. Future Analyses
Based on recommendations resulting from the STAMP Long-Range Planning Workshop held at the Alaska Islands and Ocean Visitors Center, Homer, Alaska, February 2005

26. Improve temporal trends information
St. Lazaria I.
St. George I.
Improve temporal trends information
Thick-billed murres
Common murres
Gulf of Alaska
Chukchi Sea
Cape Lisburne
Bering Sea

27. Establish baseline data on gulls
St. Lazaria I.
Viesokoi Rock
Hooper Bay
Gull I.
Middleton I.
Establish baseline data on gulls
Noatak R. Delta
Glaucous gulls
Glaucous-winged gulls
Safety Sound
Penny R.
Ualik Lake
Kikertalik Lake
Shaiak I.

28. Improve geographical trends information
Cape Lisburne
St. Lawrence I.
Middleton I.
2002 Thick-billed murres
East Amatuli I.
St. Lazaria I.
St. George I.
2003 Common murres
Gulf of Alaska
Thick-billed murres
Common murres

29. Additional Analytes Hexabromochlorododecane (HBCD) – another BFR
Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) – PFOS; PFOA, etc.
Stable isotopes – trophic position
Fatty acids– food web/prey selection differences

30. Acknowledgments Funding: USGS/BRD, USFWS, NIST, BIA, NPRB
Partners and Collaborators: Point Hope IRA Council—Earl Kingik, Wildlife and Parks Director and Russel Lane, resident); Maniilaq Association—Enoch Schiedt and residents of Deering; Little Diomede Island residents; Kawerak Inc.—Austin Ahmasuk, Subsistence Director, and residents of Nome and Shaktoolik; St. Lawrence Island (Brandon Waghiyi and local residents); Paimiut Traditional Council—Albert Simon, Hooper Bay; Native Village of Mekoryuk—Marvin Kiokun, Natural Resources Director; Togiak Traditional Council—Francisca Kamkapak, Tribal Environmental Program Manager and Peter Lockuk Sr.; St. George Traditional Council—Anthony Merculieff, Executive Director, and Andy Malavansky, Island Sentinel; Sitka Tribe and Jack Lorrrigan, Tribal Fisheries Biologist; Loran Buck, Kodiak local biologist; Seldovia Tribe—Michael Opheim, Environmental Coordinator and Paul McCollum, Seldovia Tribe Environmental Program Consultant; Nick Tanape Sr., Traditional Ecological Knowledge Specialist, Nanwalek; Paul McCollum, Nanwalek IRA Council Environmental Program Consultant; University of Alaska; USGS/BRD; USFWS; BIA; ADF&G; Canadian Wildlife Service.
Special Thanks to: Glenn Chen (BIA); Vern Byrd (USFWS); Tony DeGange (USGS-BRD); Michael Smolen, WWF; Lyman Thorsteinson (USGS-BRD); Minerals Management Service (MMS)