ORGANOCHLORINE LEVELS IN SUBCUTANEOUS BLUBBER BIOPSIES OF FIN WHALES (BALAENOPTERA-PHYSALUS) AND STRIPED DOLPHINS (STENELLA-COERULEOALBA) FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN-SEA

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and DDT compounds were determined in subcutaneous blubber of fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) and striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba) from the Mediterranean Sea. From 199 0 to 1993, 68 fin whale and 89 dolphin blubber biopsies were analysed. The whales were sampled while passing through the Ligurian Sea, where as the dolphins were collected in different areas of the Mediterranean : the Ligurian, Tyrrhenian and Ionian Seas. Total PCBs and DDTs were 5 .5-7.1 ppm and 4.2-9.5 ppm, respectively, in the whales and 15.5-86.0 ppm and 15.6-63.5 ppm, respectively, in the dolphins. Thirty PCB conge ners were identified for each sample, IUPAC numbers 153, 138, 187, 180 and 170 being the most abundant, totalling an average of 55% of total PCBs in the whale and 60% in the dolphin. The large differences in ac cumulation are related to position in the food chain. In striped dolph ins significant differences were found in relation to sampling site, a nd in fin whales in relation to sex.