Seabirds Responsible for High Levels of Toxins found in the Arctic

By Danielle Briones

Published on July 22, 2005

The scientific community has struggled for decades to understand how toxins enter the bodies of polar bears and animals who live in the Arctic north, thousands of miles away from pollution sources.

Now, researchers at the University of Ottawa in Canada believe that a gull-like bird called the northern fulmar may be to blame.

Fulmars travel hundreds of miles away to fish in the open sea, where they consume food ridden with toxins.

Researchers believe that when the fulmars fly return to their nests in the Arctic, they deposit waste that contains concentrated amounts of pollutants, pesticides, and other chemicals.

The toxins in the bird guano enter the Arctic ecosystem and wind up in the bodies of the animals that live there.

Before this finding was made public, many believed that wind currents or human activities were responsible for Artic pollution.

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