Contaminated Seals

For more than 30 years, scientists have been studying harbor seals on a small off-limits island in South Puget Sound, Gertrude Island. The island is off of McNeil Island which is home to both a Federal penitentiary and a wildlife sanctuary. The research has focused on the state's largest population of marine mammals, 600 seals, for the past 30 years. , a state wildlife biologist, participates in the yearly evaluation of the seals, the scientists draw blood, sample bits of blubber and swab orifices to check for disease. The harbor seals help to define the scope of toxic contamination in the Sound because they do not migrate, and are near the top of the food chain. The seals serve as good indicators of the marine ecosystem health, and the situation does not look good. The seals may look healthy, but they have suffered from decades of exposure to toxic chemicals in Puget Sound. The toxins remain in the blubber of the seals affecting their metabolism and making them more vulnerable to illness, and disease. Contamination concentrations have decreased in the South Sound since the 1970s, but levels are still high enough to concern the research scientists. Many of the chemicals have been banned, but are still persistent in the food chain, also new chemicals like flame retardants are now present. The harbor seals consume many of the same fish humans consume, and bring to light serious issues of toxic contamination in the Sound.