Abstract:
This report describes a project with an objective to assess potential polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) contamination in beluga whales and ringed seals in British Columbia, Canada. Thirty-eight blubber samples were collected via biopsy from beluga whales in July 2005 from the harvesting areas of Kendall Island and Hendrickson Island in the outer Mackenzie Delta. Ringed seal samples were collected off Tukyoyktuk, NT, approximately 40 km from shore on the landfast ice during basking in May 2005 and 2006. The samples were wrapped in aluminum foil, frozen and sent to Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Florida, where they were archived in a freezer for analyses of PAHs.
