Protocol for monitoring environmental contaminants in bald eagles (version 2.0): Great Lakes Inventory and Monitoring Network

Route, Bill; Key, Rebecca; Bowerman, William; Kozie, Karin; VanderMeulen, David

This protocol details the objectives, study design, and reporting requirements for monitoring levels of targeted environmental contaminants in bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) nestlings at three national park units in the western Great Lakes region of the United States. Detailed methods are in standard operating procedures. The protocol involves taking blood and feather samples from bald eagle nestlings to monitor trends in contaminants that are persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT) to fish, wildlife, and humans. The monitoring will take place at Apostle Islands National Lakeshore (APIS), Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (MISS), and the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway (SACN). A companion protocol involves sampling dragonfly larvae and fish for mercury (Hg) at these and six other national parks in the region. Both programs are part of a nation-wide effort by the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) to provide park managers with scientifically sound data to manage natural resources under their care. The monitoring is funded and conducted by the NPS Great Lakes Inventory and Monitoring Network. Human-made contaminants that are released into water, air, or on land often end up in aquatic systems through aerial deposition, runoff, and ground water. Bald eagles are high on the aquatic food web and are known to accumulate high levels of PBT contaminants. Hence, they sample the aquatic environment and act as integrators of human-made contaminants. This protocol was implemented annually from 2006 through 2011 and repeated in 2014 and 2015 to provide a baseline of data on targeted contaminants. Ideally, the protocol will be repeated three years in succession with no more than ten years between sampling. Sampling will depend on funding levels and contributions from partners. The protocol targets six contaminants that have caused impairment to water bodies within the three parks, or which have been identified by regulatory agencies as contaminants of emerging concern (CEC). The six contaminants are: • Lead • Mercury (total) • DDT (including DDE and DDD) • PCBs (total and 75 congeners) • PBDEs (total and 9 congeners) • PFCs (total and 16 telomers) In addition to these targeted contaminants, we measured concentrations of additional pesticides and CECs under special funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Great Lakes Restoration Initiative in 2010, 2011, 2014, and 2015. The sampling design can be easily expanded to include these and other contaminants as needed. Specifically, the monitoring program is designed to answer the following questions: 1. What is the direction and magnitude of change in concentrations of targeted contaminants in blood plasma and/or feathers from nestling bald eagles within the three parks? 2. What is the incidence of developmental deformities observed in live and dead nestlings of bald eagles within the three parks? 3. What is the direction and magnitude of change in the number of young produced per occupied bald eagle nest within the three parks? Briefly, bald eagle nests, including new nests and those from previous years, are located by pilot/observer teams from either a fixed-wing aircraft or a helicopter in the spring of each year. In May or June, field teams visit all occupied nests that can be safely climbed. Sampling is timed to target nestlings when they are five to nine weeks old. Each occupied nest will contain one to three, very rarely four, nestlings. We take up to 11 mL of blood and three to four breast feathers from at least one, and often all, nestlings in each nest. Samples from one nestling are randomly selected and sent to an analytical laboratory. Samples from the remaining siblings are archived. All eaglets are measured, weighed, checked for general health, banded, and placed back in the nest. All handling and sampling data are...….

Protocol for monitoring environmental contaminants in bald eagles (version 2.0): Great Lakes Inventory and Monitoring Network

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