Organochlorine compounds and aliphatic hydrocarbons in Pacific walrus blubber

Blubber samples were collected from 8 male and 19 female Pacific walrus (Od obenus rosmarus divergens) taken during a 1991 joint USA/USSR cruise travel ing widely through the Bering Sea. Dieldrin was found at a level similar to that reported 10 years earlier; oxychlordane was found at a slightly highe r concentration than reported previously (Taylor et al, 1989). Heptachlor e poxide was detected for the first time and found at a low concentration. An initial testing for alpha-, beta- and gamma -HCH detected concentrations s imilar to those in other Bering Sea pinnipeds. Mean Sigma PCB was 0.45 mug g(-1) wet weight in males and 0.16 mug g(-1) in females; only one sample wa s > 1 mug g(-1). Traces of aliphatic hydrocarbons were detected in all samp led animals, only pristane ((x) over bar =0.48 mug g(-1)) was found in conc entrations > 1 mug g(-1). Small sample sizes, a lack of samples from immatu re animals, and uniformly low concentrations of contaminants precluded mean ingful analysis of age-related effects and regional differences. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.