Pilot Whale Strands on the Canary Islands, Spain

Off the coast of the Canary Islands, Spain, an adult short-finned pilot whale was washed ashore by waves onto a beach on the eastern coast of the archipelago. High levels of heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), were detected in the whale’s tissues. Once these persistent pollutants enter the marine environment, they remain there for long periods, bioaccumulating through the food chain and accumulating in the whales’ adipose tissue, where they cause ongoing damage to their immune, endocrine, and reproductive systems, increasing the likelihood of disease and calf mortality.