Comparing Persistent Organic Pollutants and Trace Metals in Green Sea Turtles (Chelonia mydas) Inhabiting Two Urbanized Habitats in Southern California

Two foraging aggregations of green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas ) inhabit the Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge (SBNWR) and San Diego Bay (SDB), California, and are potentially exposed to trace metal (TM) and persistent organic pollutant (POP) contamination in these urbanized habitats. Due to differences in anthropogenic activity, it was hypothesized that turtles from SBNWR and SDB have different TM and POP contaminant signatures. Turtles from SBNWR (17 turtles) and SDB (25 turtles) were captured, were measured and had blood and scute samples obtained for contaminant analysis. Principal component analyses indicated that turtles from SBNWR and SDB had differential contaminant signatures, with selenium and PCBs driving the majority of the difference. SBNWR turtles had higher selenium, while SDB turtles had higher PCBs. Future studies could benefit from comparing these two green turtle populations in future health assessments; particularly, how excess selenium and non dioxin-like PCBs affect green turtle physiology