1. Contaminant Levels in Herring Gull eggs from the Great Lakes and New York Harbor (Swinburne Island), 2009 D.V. Chip Weseloh Canadian Wildlife Service - Ontario www.ec.gc.ca Harbor Herons and Waterbirds of Greater NY/NJ Harbor Working Group 12-13 January 2011 Staten Island, NY Susan B. Elbin New York City Audubon David J. Moore Canadian Wildlife Service - Ontario

2. Objective To compare and rank contaminant concentrations in Herring Gull eggs from Swinburne Island, NYC Harbour, with those from 14 well-distributed sites in the Great Lakes for 2009.

3. Annually Monitored Colonies N 1,200 km 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 9 8 12 10 13 11 14 Lake Superior Lake Michigan Lake Huron Lake Erie Lake Ontario 15 N 1. Granite I. 2. Agawa Rks. 3. Big Sister I. 4. Gull I. 5. Channel-Shelter I. 6. Double I. Chantry I. 7. Chantry I. 8. Fighting I. 9. Middle I. 10. Port Colborne 11. Niagara R. 12. Hamilton Hrbr. 13. Toronto Hrbr. 14. Snake I. 15. Strachan I.

4. Waterbird Colonies in New York Harbor

5. Egg collections 13 eggs (1 per complete clutch) from each site are collected in late April/early May. At Swinburne I., they were Collected in late May.

6. Egg Composition – Swinburne vs Great Lakes 6 7 8 9 Agawa (LS) Big Sister (LM) Swinburn (NYH) Granite (LS) Gull (LM) Port. Colborne (LE) Double (LH) Channel-Shelter (LH) Snake (LO) Unnamed (NR) Hamilton Hrbr (LO) Chantry (LH) Middle (LE) Strachan (SLR) Toronto Hrbr (LO) 75 76 77 78 Chantry (LH) Hamilton Hrbr (LO) Strachan (SLR) Port. Colborne (LE) Middle (LE) Snake (LO) Gull (LM) Agawa (LS) Channel-Shelter (LH) Toronto Hrbr (LO) Double (LH) Granite (LS) Swinburn (NYH) Unnamed (NR) Big Sister (LM) % Lipid % Moisture

7. Eggs from Swinburne I. were among the 7 most contaminated for these compounds 0 4 8 12 Chantry (LH) Swinburn (NYH) Hamilton Hrbr (LO) Toronto Hrbr (LO) Channel-Shelter (LH) Agawa (LS) Middle (LE) Port. Colborne (LE) Unnamed (NR) Big Sister (LM) Double (LH) Granite (LS) Gull (LM) Snake (LO) Strachan (SLR) 0 200 400 600 800 Toronto Hrbr (LO) Agawa (LS) Chantry (LH) Gull (LM) Swinburn (NYH) Big Sister (LM) Hamilton Hrbr (LO) Channel-Shelter (LH) Granite (LS) Snake (LO) Middle (LE) Port. Colborne (LE) Strachan (SLR) Double (LH) Unnamed (NR) 0 5 10 15 20 Chantry (LH) Snake (LO) Middle (LE) Toronto Hrbr (LO) Strachan (SLR) Hamilton Hrbr (LO) Swinburn (NYH) Port. Colborne (LE) Double (LH) Unnamed (NR) Granite (LS) Agawa (LS) Channel-Shelter (LH) Gull (LM) Big Sister (LM) 0 0.005 0.010 0.015 Strachan (SLR) Middle (LE) Chantry (LH) Toronto Hrbr (LO) Swinburn (NYH) Gull (LM) Big Sister (LM) Granite (LS) Double (LH) Agawa (LS) Unnamed (NR) Port. Colborne (LE) Channel-Shelter (LH) Hamilton Hrbr (LO) Snake (LO) TCBs sum BDEs TCDDTCPM ng/g, wet weight (ppb) ρg/g, wet weight (ppt) µg/g, wet weight (ppm) Site nd

8. Eggs from Swinburne I. were the most contaminated for Dieldrin, a banned pesticide 0 0.05 0.10 0.15 Swinburn (NYH) Toronto Hrbr (LO) Gull (LM) Middle (LE) Big Sister (LM) Chantry (LH) Strachan (SLR) Agawa (LS) Granite (LS) Double (LH) Unnamed (NR) Channel-Shelter (LH) Hamilton Hrbr (LO) Port. Colborne (LE) Snake (LO) Dieldrin µg/g, wet weight (ppm) nd Site

9. Eggs from Swinburne I. were among the 4 least contaminated for these compounds 0 0.4 0.8 1.2 Toronto Hrbr (LO) Big Sister (LM) Snake (LO) Middle (LE) Gull (LM) Hamilton Hrbr (LO) Chantry (LH) Strachan (SLR) Granite (LS) Port. Colborne (LE) Unnamed (NR) Agawa (LS) Channel-Shelter (LH) Swinburn (NYH) Double (LH) 0 10 20 30 Gull (LM) Middle (LE) Big Sister (LM) Agawa (LS) Toronto Hrbr (LO) Granite (LS) Port. Colborne (LE) Snake (LO) Channel-Shelter (LH) Chantry (LH) Double (LH) Hamilton Hrbr (LO) Swinburn (NYH) Unnamed (NR) Strachan (SLR) 0 5 10 15 20 Middle (LE) Chantry (LH) Hamilton Hrbr (LO) Strachan (SLR) Toronto Hrbr (LO) Port. Colborne (LE) Snake (LO) Unnamed (NR) Gull (LM) Big Sister (LM) Double (LH) Swinburn (NYH) Channel-Shelter (LH) Granite (LS) Agawa (LS) 0 0.4 0.8 1.2 1.6 Toronto Hrbr (LO) Snake (LO) Big Sister (LM) Hamilton Hrbr (LO) Middle (LE) Gull (LM) Chantry (LH) Strachan (SLR) Granite (LS) Unnamed (NR) Port. Colborne (LE) Swinburn (NYH) Agawa (LS) Channel-Shelter (LH) Double (LH) DDE HE sum PCBs sum OCs µg/g, wet weight (ppm) Site µg/g, wet weight (ppm) ng/g, wet weight (ppb) µg/g, wet weight (ppm)

10. Eggs from Swinburne I. were the least contaminated for these compounds 0 0.04 0.08 0.12 0.16 0.20 Toronto Hrbr (LO) Snake (LO) Strachan (SLR) Hamilton Hrbr (LO) Unnamed (NR) Port. Colborne (LE) Double (LH) Agawa (LS) Middle (LE) Granite (LS) Big Sister (LM) Channel-Shelter (LH) Gull (LM) Chantry (LH) Swinburn (NYH) 0 0.4 0.8 1.2 Middle (LE) Snake (LO) Strachan (SLR) Toronto Hrbr (LO) Chantry (LH) Unnamed (NR) Granite (LS) Double (LH) Big Sister (LM) Hamilton Hrbr (LO) Agawa (LS) Gull (LM) Port. Colborne (LE) Channel-Shelter (LH) Swinburn (NYH) 0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 Middle (LE) Chantry (LH) Gull (LM) Hamilton Hrbr (LO) Toronto Hrbr (LO) Snake (LO) Strachan (SLR) Big Sister (LM) Port. Colborne (LE) Unnamed (NR) Granite (LS) Double (LH) Agawa (LS) Channel-Shelter (LH) Swinburn (NYH) µg/g, wet weight (ppm) Site µg/g, wet weight (ppm) ρg/g, wet weight (ppt) Mirex Hg non-ortho PCBs

11. Eggs from Swinburn I. were the least contaminated for these compounds 0 1 2 3 4 Hamilton Hrbr (LO) Chantry (LH) Double (LH) Toronto Hrbr (LO) Middle (LE) Agawa (LS) Gull (LM) Port. Colborne (LE) Unnamed (NR) Snake (LO) Big Sister (LM) Channel-Shelter (LH) Granite (LS) Strachan (SLR) Swinburn (NYH) 0 10 20 30 Toronto Hrbr (LO) Middle (LE) Gull (LM) Chantry (LH) Hamilton Hrbr (LO) Unnamed (NR) Snake (LO) Big Sister (LM) Agawa (LS) Port. Colborne (LE) Granite (LS) Double (LH) Strachan (SLR) Channel-Shelter (LH) Swinburn (NYH) ng/g, wet weight (ppb) HCB Penta CB Site

12. Overall Contamination Where do eggs from Swinburn Island rank overall against eggs from the 14 Great Lakes Sites ? Can that be determined ? If so, how ?

13. Fish flesh criteria for various organochlorine compounds for protection of piscivorous wildlife (Newell et al., 1987) Compound Fish Flesh Criteria (µg/g, wet weight) Sum DDT0.2 Dieldrin0.12 HCB0.33 HE0.2 Mirex0.33 Sum Chlordane0.5 Octachlorostyrene0.02 TCDD0.0003 Sum PCB0.11 Fish/food should not contain concentrations greater than these for safe consumption http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/wildlife_pdf/niagarabiotacontamproj.pdf

14. Overall contamination (mean weighted rank) among sites rank = 1  most contaminated

15. www.ec.gc.ca