A novel record of a stranding of a Cuvier's beaked whale, Ziphius cavirostris, in the Río de la Plata, Argentina; with preliminary results on heavy metals

VILCHES, FLORENCIA ORNELA; CACERES-SAEZ, I; PANEBIANCO, M. V.; LUCERO, SERGIO; GARIBOLDI, M.C.; FORLENZA, C.; REYES, M.V.; TOSSEMBERG, V; GONZALEZ, L.; GASPARROU, C; HEVIA, MARTA; PERALTA, DIEGO M.; CAPPOZZO, H. L.

Lima

Congreso; XII Congreso de la Sociedad Latinoamericana de Especialistas en Mamíferos Acuáticos RT 18; 2018

SOLAMAC

Ziphiidae or beaked whales, are all classified as ?Data Deficient? by the IUCN. Out of the 21st members constitutingthe family, Cuvier?s beaked whale (Ziphius cavirostris) has the most cosmopolitan distribution. It has been widelyrecorded from tropical to warm temperate, and occasionally even in sub-polar and polar waters. A major problemwhen studying this species in the wild is its wide-ranging oceanic habitats. In the South Atlantic Ocean its presencehas been reported mainly from strandings and less frequently identified at sea. As a result, stranded specimensoffer good opportunities to gather biological and ecological information on this species. On 22nd October, 2016, thepresence of a stranded specimen was reported by officials on the coast of the Río de la Plata estuary, Vicente López,Buenos Aires province, Argentina (BA, Arg., 34°31?05??S; 58°28?11??W). The stranding was attended by biologistsand veterinarian students coordinated by OPDS, BA, Arg. The animal body length was 5.12 m. The carcass was inadvanced decomposition (type 4) and the necropsy was performed according to standard protocols. Tissue samplesof liver, kidney, muscle, lung, spleen and skin were excised in order to develop toxicological analysis. The skeletonnamed as MACN-Ma.27287 is stored at the Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales Bernardino Rivadavia, BA, Arg.Here we presented the concentrations of Pb, Cd, Ni, Cr, Zn and Cu determined by inductive coupling plasma massspectrometry (ICP-MS). The range of metal levels among tissues were for: Cr, 46 - 109 μg/L; Cu, 34 - 280 μg/L; Zn,104 ? 13,250 μg/L and Cd, 3.5 ? 2,073 μg/L. Lead and Ni in all tissues were below the detection limit of the method.To our knowledge, very few studies have been published worldwide providing metal concentrations in this specieshowever; the mean concentrations of these elements varied within values reported for other marine mammals in theSouth Atlantic Ocean. Long-term databases of pollutants in stranded mammals along with pathological examinationare essential to assess their health condition, and delineate strategies for conservation of their populations.