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Antarctica: are the animals on the ice floes contaminated by mercury?
Antarctica: are the animals on the ice floes contaminated by mercury? – (franceinfo)
A substance used thousands of kilometers from the Antarctic ice floes in mining operations, scientists believe that mercury has contaminated certain marine animals.
On Livingstone Island, mercury pollution due to mining has reached the borders of Antarctica, according to scientists. To prove it, a marine biologist performs a remote biopsy on one of the white continent’s biggest predators, the leopard seal. “These samples are taken to determine the health status of these marine mammals”underlines Diego Mojica, marine biologist at the Malpelo Foundation.
Mercury can kill marine mammals
According to scientists, mercury can cause behavioral changes, reproductive disorders and even, in the most extreme cases, the death of the animal. The study also focuses on the health of humpback whales. At the top of the food chain, this marine mammal is even more likely to be contaminated by mercury. Mercury should be banned in mining in 2032.
