This study aimed to provide insights into how climate-driven diet shifts may impact contaminant exposures of Arctic species. We compared feeding ecology and contaminant concentrations in ringed seals (Pusa hispida) from two Canadian sub-Arctic (Nain and Arviat) and two Arctic sites (Sachs Harbour and Resolute Bay).
All data are a part subject of a publication containing method details, full QA/QC, interpretation and conclusions: Facciola, N., Houde, M., Muir, D. C. G., Ferguson, S. H., & McKinney, M. A. (2022). Feeding and contaminant patterns of sub-arctic and arctic ringed seals: Potential insight into climate change-contaminant interactions. Environmental pollution (Barking, Essex : 1987), 313, 120108. doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2022.120108
Supplemental Information
The Northern Contaminants Program (NCP, https://science.gc.ca/site/science/en/northern-contaminants-program) was established in 1991 in response to concerns about human exposure to elevated levels of contaminants in wildlife species that are important to the traditional diets of northern Aboriginal peoples. Early studies found a wide variety of substances, many of which had no Arctic or Canadian sources, but which were, nevertheless, reaching unexpectedly high levels in the Arctic ecosystem.
The Canadian Cryospheric Information Network (CCIN, https://www.ccin.ca/) and the Polar Data Catalogue (PDC, https://polardata.ca/) have been developed over the past two decades through collaborative partnerships between the University of Waterloo and numerous government, university, and private organizations to provide the data and information management infrastructure for the Canadian cryospheric community. The PDC is one of Canada’s primary online sources for data and information about the Arctic and is Canada's National Antarctica Data Centre.