10 



tissues of great blue herons (Ardea herodias) 

 from Lake St. Clair, Michigan (Reichel et al. 

 1977); their source apparently remains un- 

 known. Chlorinated naphthalenes also were 

 identified in tissues of the great cormorant 

 (Koemanetal. 1973). 



Mirex was measured in eggs of herons and 

 white ibis (Eudocimus albus) from estuarines 

 of the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf coasts (Ohlen- 

 dorf et al. 1974) and also in the blubber of a 

 seal (Phoca vitulina) from the Netherlands 

 (Ten Noever de Brauw et al. 1973). In addition 

 to its use as an insecticide, mirex, under 

 various trade names, is used as a flame 

 retardant. 



Dieldrin was found in eggs and tissues of 

 several species of marine birds inhabiting 

 coastal waters of Great Britain (Robinson et 

 al. 1967) and of New Zealand, and also in 

 pelagic species such as the sooty shearwater 

 (Puffinus griseus) breeding in sub- Antarctic 

 islands of New Zealand (Bennington et al. 

 1975). It is accumulated by ospreys (Pandion 

 haliaetus) and bald eagles (Haliaeetus leuco- 

 cephalus) feeding on coastal marine fish of the 

 eastern United States (Mulhern et al. 1970; 

 Belisle et al. 1972; Cromartie et al. 1975; Wie- 

 meyer et al. 1975). 



Endrin was detected in brown pelicans 

 (Pelecanus occidentalis) from Florida 

 (Schreiber and Risebrough 1972), the Gulf of 

 California (Risebrough et al. 1968), and 

 Louisiana (J. D. Newsom, personal communi- 

 cation). White pelicans (Pelecanus erythro- 

 rhynchos) from Louisiana also contained en- 

 drin (J. D. Newsom, personal communica- 

 tion). 



Chlordane compounds, principally oxy- 

 chlordane and czs-chlordane, were found in 

 eggs of herons from the eastern U.S. estuaries 

 (Ohlendorf et al. 1974) and in fish and common 

 terns (Sterna hirundo) from Long Island 

 Sound (R. W. Risebrough and P. Robinson, 

 unpublished data). 



Heptachlor epoxide, toxaphene, and the 

 several isomers of hexachlorocyclohexane 

 (benzene hexachloride or BHC) are occa- 

 sionally found in estuarine environments. 

 Heptachlor epoxide and BHC isomers have 

 been reported in Antarctic birds breeding in 

 the South Orkneys (Tatton and Ruzicka 1967) 

 but their identification has not been con- 

 firmed (Risebrough 1977). 



The occurrence, distribution, and effects of 



organochlorines on wildlife, principally terres- 

 trial, freshwater, and estuarine species, have 

 been summarized in other recent reviews 

 (Prestt and Ratcliffe 1972; L. F. Stickel 1972, 

 1973; Blus et al. 1977b; W. H. Stickel 1975; 

 Ketchum et al. 1975; L. F. Stickel and F. E. 

 Hester, unpublished manuscript). Earlier 

 studies of the transport of PCB's to the ma- 

 rine environment also have been reviewed 

 (Nisbet and Sarofim 1972; Panel on Hazar- 

 dous Trace Substances 1972). More recently 

 the environmental effects of PCB's (Peakall 

 1975), their chemical properties (Hutzinger et 

 al. 1974), and the transfer of organochlorine 

 compounds to the marine environment and 

 their incorporation into marine food webs 

 have been reviewed (Risebrough et al. 1976a). 



Although levels of organochlorine com- 

 pounds other than those of the DDT and PCB 

 groups may occasionally be present at levels 

 deleterious to birds in estuaries, levels in the 

 offshore marine environment are usually well 

 below those considered harmful to marine 

 birds. In the present review, principal em- 

 phasis will therefore be placed on the DDT 

 and PCB compounds. 



Exposure of Marine Birds 

 to Organochlorines 



Organochlorine residue data are available 

 from coastal regions, but there have been rela- 

 tively few studies of chlorinated hydrocarbon 

 contamination of marine birds in areas that 

 are far from known pollution sources. 



All eggs of the Adelie penguin (Pygoscelis 

 adeliae) from widely separated localities in the 

 Antarctic (Risebrough and Carmignani 1972; 

 Risebrough 1977), eggs and tissues of birds 

 from the Aleutians (White and Risebrough 

 1977) and from sub-Antarctic areas of New 

 Zealand (Bennington et al. 1975), and tissues 

 of birds from the eastern North Atlantic 

 (Bourne and Bogan 1972; Bogan and Bourne 

 1972) contained residues of DDT compounds. 

 All samples also contained detectable levels of 

 chlorobiphenyl compounds, frequently at 

 levels higher than the total concentration of 

 the DDT group. The DDT and chlorobiphenyl 

 compounds also were detected in all samples 

 obtained from remote terrestrial and fresh- 

 water Arctic ecosystems (Risebrough and 

 Berger 1971; Walker 1977). 



Although the data are few and sample sizes 



