Sixty narwhals (Monodon monoceros) were sampled in the vicinity of Pond Inlet, N.W.T., during the summer of 1978 and 1979. Concentrations of Pb, Cu, Cd, Hg, Se, As, and Zn were measured in liver, kidney, muscle, and blubber. All elements except As were lowest in concentration in the blubber and highest in kidney and liver; Cd and Zn were generally higher in kidney than in liver, while the converse was true for Pb, Cu, and Hg. Cadmium levels in liver and kidney had high interanimal variability but were generally higher than would be expected based on existing marine mammal Cd content data. Certain metals were correlated with animal size and sex. Mercury in kidney, muscle, and blubber and Cd in muscle appear to accumulate during growth. A number of interelement associations with extremely high probabilities were found: among them, that between Hg and Se and Cd and Zn in liver and kidney tissues. The latter association is thought to be related to the presence of metallothionein. The data presented are discussed in terms of what little is known of the biology of the narwhal and represent a baseline for a resource organism which is harvested in an area already subject to mining activity, the level of which is due to increase in the future.
Marine mammal biodiversity and rare narwhal (
Monodon monoceros
) observations near northern Ellesmere Island, Canada
