Camille & Rhea | Chemical Pollution in Dolphins and Whales

00:00:05: So, good morning!

00:00:06: Good afternoon or good evening.

00:00:08: Today it's episode fifteen in GenC podcast with your favorite hosts Ria and Kemi.

00:00:15: And today our episode is focusing on chemical pollution among marine and social citizens or commonly dolphins or whales.

00:00:24: And in our first interview episode, we discussed about the global presence of plastic pollution.

00:00:29: But plastic isn't the only form of pollution affecting oceans.

00:00:33: since the industrial revolution humanity such as agriculture or construction have released a wide range chemical pollutants into environments and many of these contaminants eventually make their way to the ocean where they come direct contact with marine organisms From microscopic plankton to top predators, these chemicals can accumulate in marine ecosystems and have a variety of harmful effects on wildlife.

00:01:01: And today we are speaking with Sacha Boubet, PhD student at the Pelagis Observatory in France which is the Marine Mammal and Seaboard Research Observatory and a research focus on chemical contamination in citizens community, in the Bay of Piscay exploring how changes in food webs and precarity affect marine top predators.

00:01:24: So welcome Sasha!

00:01:26: Welcome.

00:01:27: Hi

00:01:29: Thank you for the introduction.

00:01:31: Yes You're welcome

00:01:33: Sasha.

00:01:34: can you present yourself please?

00:01:36: And explain what your research is about?

00:01:39: yes so I'm Sasha and I'm currently at the head of my first year of my PhD.

00:01:48: I am in the laboratory of Observatoire Pélagiste, in La Rochelle, France.

00:01:56: My research focuses on chemical contamination in stray marine mammals And i study how contaminants accumulate in different cetacean species how their diet and ecology influence exposure, which species are the most vulnerable to pollution.

00:02:23: How did you become interested in the issue of chemical pollutants?

00:02:30: I admit that i don't really know what to answer because...I haven't been interested in it for a very long time.

00:02:43: It was during my master's degree, during my first course in ecotoxicology and the science chemistry and the hand variant, I became interested in the impacts of your daily action.

00:03:02: And um i did my mercury research internship and my second internship on contaminants been Botanical Dolphin ,and I love it.

00:03:12: so I continue on this path.

00:03:16: Are there any contaminants that you have found mostly?

00:03:19: Any common ones?

00:03:21: we mainly to the persistent organic pollutants such as PCB, like PCB polychlorobiphenyl, DDT, dichloro-difenylethane and PBDE.

00:03:40: I don't remember it's a polybromo bifinylethane metals like mercury and cadmium.

00:03:53: And this contaminant can remain in the environment for decreds, accumulating citazones... It all depends on the type of contaminants but some studies show that from certain concentrations they affect on the immune system, reproduction, hormonal regulation and the nervous system.

00:04:29: So some of contaminants have also been linked to lower fertility and greater susceptibility to disease.

00:04:39: But it's very, very difficult to say they have direct link between desires and contaminants because as you know there is other traits in environment.

00:04:53: So good question but its' very difficult answer them.

00:04:58: Then we work on a set of data about the depth Dolphins or...

00:05:10: My data?

00:05:12: Yeah.

00:05:13: What is the kind of data that you use?

00:05:18: Since, uh, nineteen eighty seven my data how much each line?

00:05:31: it's just one individual I think I mean approximately

00:05:40: like not

00:05:41: present.

00:05:42: Six hundred individuals,

00:05:45: okay?

00:05:46: Okay wow then you have for each individual the amount of pollutants.

00:05:55: no it's very difficult all this information.

00:05:58: some of these are very old.

00:06:02: For example if he was dead in.

00:06:09: I just have mercury, sex and of mercury concentration.

00:06:14: Sex... ...and weight And the side.

00:06:22: Okay because when they took a sample Of the of the cytosine which part is the most contaminated?

00:06:30: or Which one do they use to check the concentration?

00:06:33: Of the contaminants?

00:06:34: i used liver Kiné and blubber, especially.

00:06:46: And your research focuses on the specific area of the French coasts?

00:06:51: Do you know if there is similar research being conducted in other regions or oceans around the world ?

00:06:59: Or... Is it like the most famous one for

00:07:04: contamination?

00:07:05: Similar

00:07:06: research is conjunct in many parts of the world including Europe, North America and Asia because marine mammal contamination is a global issue.

00:07:22: And some of the highest contamination levels have been reported in semi-unclosed sea such as Mediterranean Sea and Baltic Sea where pollutant can accumulate because water is exchanged in relatively limited.

00:07:47: Even remote regions like the Arctic are affected because many pollutants can travel a long distance through the atmosphere and ocean currents.

00:08:02: Little research, especially on dead citizens' strength exists.

00:08:09: Many are done in England In Spain Italy Brazil United States To mark knowledge And some regions of the world have favourites training than others, or less research budgets and therefore fewer publications.

00:08:30: So we cannot say that one place in the world is less polluted then other if you can not compare it.

00:08:39: according to my knowledge In Europe particularly in the Mediterranean Sea It has a golden Golden palm.

00:08:48: Okay, okay.

00:08:50: And then when you see like a huge amount of contaminants in animals can you link it with the human activity or?

00:09:00: Many contaminant can be linked to specific human activities for example mercury.

00:09:09: It is mining coal combustion and some industrial process for pollutant organic persistence like PCBs in electrical equipment, but they are still present in the hobby environment.

00:09:29: Because it was banned and is still present because it's very persistent.

00:09:37: And pesticides such as DDT mainly originate from agriculture.

00:09:45: My research mainly focused on measuring contamination in CTC and understanding how ecology influenced exposure, while I don't directly analyse water quality.

00:10:04: You mentioned about the data that you have from the nineteen eighties.

00:10:08: like you have a lot of data?

00:10:10: Have you seen a trend?

00:10:12: Yes, for some of pollutants but yes for mercury.

00:10:16: For example we don't know why because We think it's a link with climate change The increase in temperature that can release more mercury But not sure.

00:10:32: And for the other pollutant, it's just.

00:10:39: there is no increase or no decreases.

00:10:43: Coming from the contaminants side into let us say human side are they any international laws and treaties that you know regulate the pollutants in environment?

00:10:55: Yes one of most important internationally agreement is the Stockholm Convention, which aims to eliminate our resistance organic pollutants also known as POPs.

00:11:13: So POPS it's a Pollutant Organic Persistence and there are also the Minamata Convention Which especially addresses mercury pollution And this agreement has helped reduced to use of many harmful chemicals.

00:11:33: But because there's a pollutant persisting in the environment for many years, they are still found in marine ecosystems.

00:11:44: Because it didn't... So sometimes they stop using some contaminants because this is too dangerous and then it's still in the environments or not?

00:11:56: No, it's not possible.

00:12:01: That is really crazy because you stopped to use it but then he was already used.

00:12:06: and so do you see a PhD that can contribute to the governance and conservation of citizens ?

00:12:12: Is this something your lab is doing?

00:12:14: I hope!

00:12:20: Understanding which species are the most exposed and vulnerable to chemical contamination is very important for conservation in management.

00:12:31: And my laboratory has been monitoring stranded marine mammals, for many years... ...and provides scientific data that supports environmental policies and marine conservation And my PhD, yes it contributes by improving your understanding of contaminants exposure across different cetacean species and identifies the ecological factors that drive this exposure.

00:13:13: You said that you worked only with dead citizens.

00:13:17: Do you have the opportunity to make a mission with live citizens or... ...to see them alive at least?

00:13:24: I hope also,

00:13:25: but

00:13:26: no!

00:13:27: But i don't work with live animals and my research is really entirely on simple collect from strength citizens during necropsy, different tissues.

00:13:45: Tissues such as liver can name muscle and blober and analyzed in the laboratory.

00:13:55: Fat is very important because the contaminants I studied are lipophilic and therefore accumulates throughout the animals.

00:14:13: live and kidney are organs that accumulate metals, especially the liver because it detoxifies organ.

00:14:24: And the kidneys because they eliminate some of them.

00:14:31: So once the animals have been necropsies.

00:14:39: The analysis of contaminants is carried out in the laboratories, not my laboratories but another and with chemists would take care of it And after that I then get database with all of the concentration for each individual.

00:15:01: So

00:15:02: you get final data on pollutant from different stranded animals?

00:15:07: but not the initial parts, right?

00:15:12: Yes.

00:15:12: For each individual I have a... Each concentration of all contaminants.

00:15:20: and just out of curiosity for your PhD do you also want to continue later on with postdocs and research more into this field?

00:15:29: or is it too early to ask these questions?

00:15:32: No,

00:15:34: it's okay.

00:15:35: I have no idea about my future and in the research

00:15:39: That's good.

00:15:40: that's a best answer you can have.

00:15:42: others is too many expectations.

00:15:43: so last question for you Sasha Do you have any advice?

00:15:48: For young professionals or researchers interested in following in your footsteps?

00:15:55: Yes My advice would be to stay curious and not be afraid to explore different disciplines.

00:16:08: Marine science combines so many things like ecology, chemistry biology and data analysis.

00:16:17: So much of that analysis having a broad scientist background is really valuable and I would also encourage students to gain practical experience through internships, fieldwork or a laboratory if you want whenever it's possible.

00:16:40: And finally don't hesitate to contact researchers and ask questions!

00:16:46: Most scientists are happy they have experience and offer advice.

00:16:51: sometimes I have the impression that science is a closed world.

00:16:57: Closed and pretentious people, not of all.

00:17:03: we are open-minded and appreciable like me When i

00:17:07: keep this so that all the listeners hear these two.

00:17:10: That's one of the best answers you've got from the entries.

00:17:13: Yeah, definitely

00:17:15: Okay.

00:17:16: Have some rapid fire questions Let's see.

00:17:18: So it's like this or that.

00:17:21: What would you choose?

00:17:23: So you have to choose one.

00:17:24: You can't have two or none, but this and that.

00:17:28: Let's see how it goes!

00:17:30: Would you choose heavy metals?

00:17:33: Trace metals or plastic additives like I said?

00:17:37: What is

00:17:38: the

00:17:38: question?!

00:17:38: Yes if you

00:17:41: had to choose...

00:17:44: Heavy metal because its more easy to analyze

00:17:50: There ya go.

00:17:53: Would you choose like agricultural runoff?

00:17:56: Like how he said pesticides as DDT?

00:17:58: or would you choose microplastics, what do you choose Kimmy?

00:18:03: I don't know nothing about DDT.

00:18:09: I just know that it's very dangerous.

00:18:12: Well i use DDT in the lab for RNA extraction because i had to use a substitute for beta mercapto ethanol cause that is cancerous and It was crazy.

00:18:23: Yeah, but the DNA and RNA extraction can be actually very dangerous for the person in it?

00:18:31: Yes.

00:18:32: Okay would you have stricter chemical regulations or massive ocean cleanup initiatives?

00:18:40: that's

00:18:40: a good one I think i would say restrictive because even if you have uh massive clean up still have the pollution.

00:18:49: And I'm not sure that you can have very good ideas for massive cleanup, especially the subject of Sasha with organic pollutants because it's invisible.

00:18:58: True yeah i think I would choose the same Because how much can we force someone to clean an ocean?

00:19:05: Whereas in laws its more stricter at least all countries will sign on and then there is a more impact.

00:19:13: Okay, would you choose apex predators like killer whales or dolphins?

00:19:18: Like the coastal ones.

00:19:19: Dolphin?

00:19:20: Just because they're cuter!

00:19:22: Yeah okay I think i'd say it's the same because killer whale means killer whale.

00:19:25: I'm afraid...

00:19:26: I get that.

00:19:27: yeah They are pretty scary.

00:19:28: Well this is end of my rapid fire.

00:19:31: everyone got to laugh a bit with The End Of The World Scenarios.

00:19:35: And thats all for today.

00:19:37: I hope you guys enjoyed this topic discussion with Sasha.

00:19:41: If you're interested in knowing more, also read the paper that would be mentioned on our post on Instagram and podcast details.

00:19:48: Let us know if you have any questions!

00:19:50: It was our last episode with Ria.

00:19:53: We hope so.

00:19:53: You enjoyed being here with us.

00:19:55: it's a real pleasure for us to go over the GenC Podcasts And we also hope you enjoy joining us during this journey into marine science.

00:20:04: So yeah, ciao from Ria & Camille

00:20:08: Ciao ciao

00:20:10: So ciao!