Marianna Pinzone

• PhD
• MSCA Postdoctoral Fellow at Norwegian Polar Institute

Understanding predator–prey relationships is essential for revealing the complex role of marine mammals in exerting top-down control within marine ecosystems and is crucial for developing effective conservation strategies. The harbour porpoise Phocoena phocoena is the most abundant cetacean species in the North Sea, and most studies on its diet are...

Accurate interpretation of mercury (Hg) isotopic data requires the consideration of several biotic factors such as age, diet, geographical range, and tissue metabolic turnover. A priori knowledge of prey-predator isotopic incorporation rates and Hg biomagnification is essential. This study aims to assess Hg stable isotopes incorporation in an Arcti...

This study investigated total mercury (THg) concentrations in feathers and eggs of resident and migratory Antarctic seabirds. Stable isotope data (δ15N, δ13C, and δ34S) were employed to ascertain the key factors influencing the exposure of these species to Hg. We gathered feathers and eggs from three resident species - Adélie, Gentoo, and Chinstrap...

Temporal trend analysis of (total) mercury (THg) concentrations in Arctic biota were assessed as part of the 2021 Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) Mercury Assessment. A mixed model including an evaluation of non-linear trends was applied to 110 time series of THg concentrations from Arctic and Subarctic biota. Temporal trends were...

There has been a considerable number of reports on Hg concentrations in Arctic mammals since the last Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) effort to review biological effects of the exposure to mercury (Hg) in Arctic biota in 2010 and 2018. Here, we provide an update on the state of the knowledge of health risk associated with Hg conce...

Seafood has a great ecological and nutritional value for human and wildlife communities. However, accumulation of mercury (Hg) in fish is a concern to animal and human health. There is a crucial need to understand Hg speciation in marine organisms through controlled feeding experiments. This study represents a first assessment of the biological pro...

Mercury (Hg) concentrations have significantly increased in oceans during the last century. This element accumulates in marine fauna and can reach toxic levels. Seafood consumption is the main pathway of methyl-mercury (MeHg) toxicity in humans. Here, we analyzed total Hg (T-Hg) concentrations in two oceanic squid species (Ommastrephes bartramii an...

Plastic debris is globally found around the world and the remote Arctic is no exception. Arctic true seals are sentinel species of marine pollution and represent the link between marine food webs and Arctic apex predators like polar bears and humans. With regard to true seals, ingested macroplastics have never been reported in an Arctic species. We...

Hg accumulation in marine organisms depends strongly on in situ water or sediment biogeochemistry and levels of Hg pollution. To predict the rates of Hg exposure in human communities, it is important to understand Hg assimilation and processing within commercially harvested marine fish, like the European seabass Dicentrarchus labrax. Previously, va...

Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) from the Southern Hemisphere carry information on persistent organic pollutants (POPs) from their feeding zones in Antarctica to their breeding grounds, making this species a sentinel of contaminants accumulation in the Southern Ocean. This study aimed to evaluate driving factors, namely feeding areas, troph...

In the Barents Sea, pelagic and coastal polar bears are facing various ecological challenges that may explain the difference in their pollutant levels. We measured polychlorinated biphenyls, organochlorine pesticides, polybrominated diphenyl ethers in fat, and perfluoroalkyl substances in plasma in pelagic and coastal adult female polar bears with...

In April 2017, we conducted a cruise in the Greenland Sea, on board of the RV “Helmer Hansen”. The main objective was to collect tissue samples of hooded seal (Cystophora cristata) pups, during the post-weaning fast. Four hooded seals (1 male, 3 females) were sampled. Hooded seals’ length ranged between 93 and 105 cm. We estimated the pups to be ±...

Mercury (Hg) in Arctic biota is increasing in contrast with trends in the rest of the world. In top predators, tissue levels surpassed the established toxicity thresholds. New research has revealed how the Arctic Hg cycle has altered because of sea-surface temperature increase and sea-ice cover decline. True seals are Arctic top predators. As such,...

A recent Science report predicted the global killer whale population to collapse due to PCB pollution. Here we present empirical evidence, which supports and extends the reports’ statement. In 2016, a neonate male killer whale stranded on the German island of Sylt. Neonatal attributes indicated an age of at least 3 days. The stomach contained ∼20 m...

Ecological and physiological factors lead to different contamination patterns in individual marine mammals. The objective of the present study was to assess whether variations in contamination profiles are indicative of social structures of young male sperm whales as they might reflect a variation in feeding preferences and/or in utilized feeding g...

Study of the effect of species eology and distribution on T-Hg accumulation processes in Arctic trues seals with extreme physiologies.

Rationale: Intrinsic biogeochemical markers, such as stable isotope ratios of carbon, nitrogen and sulphur are increasingly used to trace the trophic ecology of marine top predators. However, insufficient knowledge of fractionation processes in tissues continues to hamper the use of these markers. Methods: We performed a controlled feeding exper...

This is a preliminary study on the contaminaDon levels of both organic (PCBs and DDTS) and inorganic (mercury, cadmium, etc.) pollutants in several Dssues of sperm whales stranded along the coasts of Schleswig Holstein (Germany), during the mass stranding event occurred January 2016. We compared our results with the data presented by Holsbeek et al...

Feeding ecology of adults and juvenile harbour porpoises in German Baltic waters during nursing period

The blubber biopsy sampling technique allows sampling of skin and blubber from free-ranging whales and dolphins. In many studies, this technique complements samples obtained from stranded and by-caught individuals, which provide access to internal tissues including muscle, liver or kidney. These organs are essential to better assess biochemical pat...

The numerous anthropogenic activities occurring nowadays in the North-western Mediterranean Sea strongly affect top predators such as marine mammals, especially through the bioaccumulation of lipophilic contaminants. In order to assess the eco-toxicological status of local living cetaceans blubber biopsies were collected between 2006 and 2013. Sele...

The pilot whale Globicephala melas and the sperm whale Physeter macrocephalus are large toothed whales, which permanently inhabit the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea, where they feed mainly on cephalopods. Here they are subjected to numerous anthropogenic threats such as exposure to high levels of contaminants. Selected persistent organic pollutants...

The pilot whale Globicephala melas and the sperm whale Physeter macrocephalus are large toothed whales, which permanently inhabit the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea, where they feed mainly on cephalopods. Here they are subjected to numerous anthropogenic threats such as exposure to high levels of contaminants. Selected persistent organic pollutants...