Toxic mercury in California coastal areas could be coming from a surprising source. According to researchers, the increasing presence of mercury poison is coming from the fur of seals and sea lions.
Mercury first appears in ocean water from air pollution or when it is dumped as waste. The toxin moves up the marine food chain from there and can wind up in fish-eating mammals such as sea lions and seals, reports Tech Times.
According to Science World Report, the toxin becomes more concentrated the higher up the food chain it goes. The concentrations of mercury in predators can be 1 to 10 million times higher than levels found in ocean water.
Elephant seals in particular have been shown to release significant amounts of mercury when they shed their fur, according to researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
The researchers’ report, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, points out elevated concentrations of toxic mercury near an elephant seal rookery at Ano Nuevo State Reserve.
The researchers discovered that the concentration of methyl mercury in the seawater near Ano Nuevo was 17 times higher than other coastal sites during the molting season and twice as high during breeding season.
The elephant seals aren’t the only ones releasing toxin mercury into the coastal waters of California. The researchers discovered high levels of the toxin in sea lion feces nearby Ano Nuevo.
Mercury pollution is a huge problem considering its cycle of pollution never ends. The animals in the ocean take it in, pass it up the food chain, and then release it back into the water where the cycle begins anew.
“Mercury is an element, so it never breaks down and goes away,” said lead author of the study and graduate student in environmental science at San Diego State University.
Mercury is an element, so it never breaks down and goes away — it just changes forms.
In other news concerning marine mammals, NOAA recently came up with a plan to protect the endangered Hawaiian monk seal.
