The Greenland Institute of Natural Resources (GINR) is part of a new project that will explore how pollution from medicine (pharmaceuticals) may affect Arctic whales. The project is led by Professor David Møbjerg Kristensen at Roskilde University and funded by the Velux Foundation. Several partner organizations are also involved.

The goal of the project is to determine how much pharmaceutical residue is present in Arctic cetaceans and what consequences it might have on their health. For this, the team will combine a range of cutting-edge techniques, including i) pharmaceutical and other chemical contaminant analyses, ii) measurements of stress and fertility hormones, iii) analyses about diet and habitat, and iv) DNA techniques.

The study will use the collection of marine mammal tissue samples stored at GINR, including time-series of samples from harbour porpoises in Maniitsoq and narwhals in West Greenland, collected over the past  40 years. Researchers will also collect new samples in collaboration with local hunters, including harbour porpoises in Maniitsoq and narwhals in several locations.

GINR will oversee the sampling of whales and investigate changes in diet and environment over time. This will help determine if what marine mammals eat affects the amount of pharmaceuticals found in their bodies. In addition, GINR will be involved in DNA work and will help develop new methods to estimate age, assess whale/dolphin health and the impact of exposure to residues of medicine and other chemicals in the sea. GINR will also help to develop methods to assess the reproductive status of harbour porpoise and narwhals in Greenland. The team hopes that these techniques could be applied to small skin/blubber samples collected on living whales with a crossbow, or from the hunt, to help monitor the long-term health of Arctic cetaceans.

For more information, contact Marie Louis: marie.louis@natur.gl