Orca 'apocalypse': half of killer whales doomed to die from pollution

[turbinetree]

Banned PCB chemicals are still severely harming the animals – but Arctic could be a refuge

At least half of the world’s killer whale populations are doomed to extinction due to toxic and persistent pollution of the oceans, according to a major new study.

Although the poisonous chemicals, PCBs, have been banned for decades, they are still leaking into the seas. They become concentrated up the food chain; as a result, killer whales, the top predators, are the most contaminated animals on the planet. Worse, their fat-rich milk passes on very high doses to their newborn calves.

PCB concentrations found in killer whales can be 100 times safe levels and severely damage reproductive organs, cause cancer and damage the immune system. The new research analysed the prospects for killer whale populations over the next century and found those offshore from industrialised nations could vanish as soon as 30-50 years.

Among those most at risk are the UK’s last pod, where a recent death revealed one of the highest PCB levels ever recorded. Others off Gibraltar, Japan and Brazil and in the north-east Pacific are also in great danger. Killer whales are one of the most widespread mammals on earth but have already been lost in the North Sea, around Spain and many other places.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/sep/27/orca-apocalypse-half-of-killer-whales-doomed-to-die-from-pollution

[ffr]

1. Correction, HUMAN POLLUTION, that which is unnaturally created by mankind.

This is not natural pollution, like some catastrophic natural event. This is mankind's doing because we do not want to be inconvenienced at any cost. And we're too cowardly to address our own population problem.

[turbinetree]

2. Yepper, spot on