TOXIC SEALS: OUR POLLUTED WATERS



SENTINELS OF THE SOUND

DEADLY TOXINS ARE ABSORBED BY MARINE MAMMALS





In recent years, researchers discovered a

of harbor seals.

Harbor seals are unfortunate and unwitting barometers for our polluted environment. An ecosystem poisoned by mankind with contaminants, sewage, trash and inorganic marine debris directly impacts their health and that of all living beings in and around the waters of Puget Sound, Elliott Bay and the Duwamish River.Harbor seals in particular are affected by pollution because they do not migrate, but instead, live year-round in our region. Because of this, they are considered a, indicating the health of the marine environment. If the seals are sick, our waters are sick.Seals' thick layers of blubber absorb and retain pollutants from our industrial waterways. In fact, a 2005 study showed the harbor seals of South Puget Sound were 7 times more contaminated than those living in Canada’s Georgia Strait. Biologists use tissue samples from both live and dead seals to monitor the health of the Sound, measuring levels of PCBs, increasing numbers of chemicals used in flame retardants known as PBDEs , pesticides and other highly toxic waste.While a ban of PCBs has reduced those toxins in recent years, the number of chemicals used in flame retardants (including those known as PBDEs) have greatly increased. Studies show that PBDE concentrations have been doubling every 3.5 years and have even been detected in the high Arctic.Contaminants are stored in the blubber of marine mammals at the top of the food chain, such as dolphins, seals and orcas. The. These toxins pass from generation to generation through the milk of mothers to their offspring. Humans, of course, are also at the top of the food chain - and those who consume fish from these toxic waters have high contaminant loads.In the Main Basin of Puget Sound,than other areas of Puget Sound. Sadly, because seal pups are so contaminated, they are considered the ideal subject for these studies. Exposure to flame retardants causes physical abnormalities (including that of the brain, impairing the development of motor activities and cognition), behavioral changes, impairs reproduction and causes immune disorders in marine mammals.Weakened seals become vulnerable to parasitic infections, low body weight and numerous viruses, often leading to fatalities. Read the full study of contaminants in Puget Sound here. Harbor seals and pups haul out on the wooden piers and beaches in the highly industrial and contaminated Duwamish Waterway, a superfund project . They forage for food in the same waters where signs warn that shellfish is unsafe for human consumption due to contaminants. A number of pups in this location were found by Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and PAWS Wildlife Center, a NOAA resource for harbor seal rehabilitation, to have lungworm infestation, pneumonia and/or a fatal virus.