The Use of Seabirds as Monitors of Heavy Metals in the Marine Environment

In attempts to quantify geographical variations in heavy metal levels in marine environments and assess the impact of anthropogenic inputs of metals, analysis of levels in biological indicator organisms offers several advantages over sea water or sediment analysis.’ The choice of indicator depends on many variables, such as ability to regulate tissue concentrations or tendency to accumulate high concentrations of specific metals; macroinvertebrates are generally favored (see also Chapter 6). ¹ , ²