BARCELONA, Spain, March 22 (UPI) -- Researchers say pollution where industrial activities take place around the coastlines of Europe is threatening the region's harbor seal populations.
A report by an international team of scientists warns of the dangers posed to mammals by industry, dredging and shipping from ports throughout Europe, and even in the Mediterranean, a release from the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology said Tuesday.
Researchers discovered a population of harbor seals in the estuary of the Elbe River in Germany is exposed to higher levels of contamination than other animals living further from the coast, the release said.
The Elbe is one of the largest sources of pollution in the German waters of the North Sea, the researchers said.
"What is happening to the seals is happening to all the other species that share their ecosystem", said Octavio Perez Luzardo, one of the authors of the study published recently in Marine Pollution Bulletin.
"This kind of study, repeated periodically, is important because it makes it possible to monitor the effectiveness of policies put in place to prevent chemical contamination," he said.
Researchers measured levels of 17 persistent pesticides, "many of which were banned more than 30 years ago, but which are still present because they are so resistant to being broken down," the study said.
The researchers found elevated levels of chemicals and heavy metals in the seal populations.
