Mercury concentrations in the tissues of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) and striped dolphins (Stenella coeruloalba) stranded on the Croatian Adriatic coast.
14/02/2014
The concentrations of total mercury in muscle (17 samples), liver (16 samples) and kidney tissues
(16 samples) of both bottlenose (Tursiops truncatus) and striped dolphins (Stenella coeruloalba) were analyzed
by cold vapour atomic absorption (AA) spectroscopy. The dolphins were found dead at different locations along
the east Adriatic over a 10-year period starting in 1990. In this study, the magnitude of mercury contamination of
dolphins which are indicators of contamination of the Adriatic as well as the Mediterranean Sea was determined.
Our results represent the first investigation of heavy metal concentrations in dolphins sampled along the Croatian
coast of the Adriatic Sea.
Research Study.
