Figure 1.
One year in the life of a female northern elephant seal.
Tissue samples from the same animals (i.e. 1A/1B and 2A/2B) were collected just prior to the start of a foraging trip (late fasting) and just after the end of that foraging trip (early fasting).
Table 1.
∑PCB concentrations in northern elephant seals (N = 58).
Figure 2.
∑PCB concentrations (mean ± SD) for inner blubber, outer blubber, and serum samples measured in elephant seals during four different sampling periods (refer to Fig. 1 for timing of samples).
Figure 3.
Proportions of each congener within the inner blubber, outer blubber, and serum of northern elephant seal females.
Whiskers in these standard boxplots encompass the full range of the data. All sampling periods are combined, which means that some females contributed two samples while other females only are represented by one sample.
Figure 4.
Inner and outer blubber congener profiles by age for all sampling periods combined.
Statistics were run on transformed percentages (arc-sin square root). Asterisks indicate a stastically significant relationship with age.
Table 2.
Relationship between the percent of the ΣPCB concentrations in inner blubber, outer blubber and serum made up by each congener group and A) adipose percent or B) age.
Figure 5.
Inner blubber, outer blubber and serum (wet weight and lipid-normalized) ∑PCB concentrations relative to body condition (percent of adipose tissue).
Statistical analyses were run using log transformed ∑PCB concentrations. Samples are from all sampling periods combined. Asterisks indicate stastically significant relationships.
Figure 6.
∑PCB concentrations in individual blubber samples at the end of the breeding/lactation fast (black) and the molting fast (red), relative to body condition (percent of adipose tissue).
Asterisk indicates a stastically significant difference between groups.
Figure 7.
Changes in paired ∑PCB concentrations over the course of a foraging trip (same individuals pre- and post-foraging) for inner blubber, outer blubber and serum.
Asterisks indicate statistically significant differences between the two trips. Refer to Fig. 1 for annual life history phases and differences between the short and long trip.