Scientists have discovered that a species of Lake Trout in Lake Ontario can serve a very important function: they show signs of pollutant contamination in sync with the rate at which the contaminants affect human populations. By testing these fish for pollutants, scientists have been able to pinpoint what chemicals will impact humans, and what levels are to be considered dangerous. While these fish aren't a very desirable catch, they are now making headlines as a harbinger of human harm.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=great-lakes-trout-serve-as-barometer-for-global-pollutants
Even though it's unfortunate that we often don't know that pollutants are having an effect on an ecosystem until it has already begun accumulating in its inhabitants, I've seen a lot of interesting articles talking about certain animals that are, like you said, harbingers of a threat. Certain invertebrates are extremely sensitive to any sort of toxin, so seeing deaths or sickness or small invertebrates is often a good indicator that things are going wrong, just like lake trout. If only we had the motivation to eliminate these toxins for the good of the ecosystem, not just for human health!
ReplyDeleteWhile it is an enourmous advantage that these fish can be used to test how these chemicals will affect humans, we must stop to consider the negative effects of these chemicals on the fish. This article causes us to contemplate the amount of chemicals that are polluting the water. This article brings to mind the movie "Green". The film discusses how the oil refineires are dumping pollutants and contaminating the water supply. This chemical pollution not only affects humans, but seriously damages the animals that inhabit the ecosystem.
ReplyDeleteIt's unfortunate that their deaths contribute to our scientific advancement and benefit. Fish are a great indicator to the chemical toxins that pollute the environment because their bodies are so vulnerable to virtually any toxin. We can use this information gathered as a means of justifying the need to regulate and control the amount of toxic chemicals we release into our environment. As Americans we should want to improve our environment, and lessen the impact of industrial pollutants. All forms of life besides humans are being impacted by our consumerism and need for industrial products, as humans we are the sole reason for Global warming, water contamination, and if we continue to disregard the environment, the repercussions will only continue to worsen.
ReplyDeleteI guess the lake trout is another incarnation of the canary in the coal mine. The article mentions that the reason toxins accumulate in lake trout is their position near the top the food chain. I have seen sustainable fishing advocates focus more on the need to consume fish with shorter life spans, reasoning that the longer the fish lives in water filled with pollutants, the more toxins it will have the chance to absorb. The article makes another good point that it is also important to consider how toxin concentrations are multiplied when predators or carnivores are consumed.
ReplyDeletethis is a good article. We have seen fish kills recently all over the country due to the excessively high temperatures. Lake trout seem to be a fairly good indicator of many problems. As I remember, the same was true in our reading of Lost Mountain. When I lived in South Dakota the lake trout were a harbinger of declining oxygen levels.
ReplyDeleteCrazy how the fish populations seem to be suffering so much due to global warming. This whole blog contains more fish articles than I would have ever imagined! As for the Lake trout, It will be disastrous if the trout disappears because of these increasing warm temperatures. People could see side effects all over the country if this extinction were to happen, drops in hunting, food market and etc. I hope bigger measures are taken in order to save the lake trout before a larger, more daunting task will awake. This can and should be stopped.
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