Trace element concentration in whale faeces and muscle, and krill tissue, collected from the Southern Ocean

Nutrients Zooplankton biomass and diversity Marine mammals abundance and distribution Invertebrate abundance and distribution

Whale muscle samples were collected from stranded and dead blue (Baleoptera musculus) and fin (Baleoptera physalus) whales in South-western Australia. Blue, fin, sperm (Physeter macrocephalus), humpback (Megaptera novaeangliae) and pygmy blue (Baleoptera musculus brevicauda) whale faecal samples were collected from coastal waters off Southern Australia by trawling 0.5 mm mesh nets over the surface waters following defecation. Four species of krill (Nyctiphanes australia, Euphausia pacifica, Meganyctiphanes norvegica), including Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) were collected from various locations worldwide.

We analysed the concentration of iron, cadmium, manganese, cobalt, copper, zinc, phosphorus and carbon in baleen whale faeces and muscle, and krill tissue using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.

Data and resources

DATA - Whale and krill trace element concentration [direct download]

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imas:ACE_LRatnarajah_Trace_element_concentration_whale_faeces_southern_ocean_GV

MAP - region of tissue collection in the Southern Ocean

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View and download this data through the interactive IMAS Data Portal.

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Additional information

Temporal extent	1997-01-01 – 2014-06-30
Date (creation)	2014-08-25
Date (publication)	2014-08-25
Status	completed
Update frequency	asNeeded
Metadata language	en
License	The data described in this record are the intellectual property of the University of Tasmania through the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS).
Source metadata	ISO 19115 XML
Last updated	2026-11-05
Created	2026-11-05
API	package_show