Cetaceans as indicators of a progressive degradation of mediterranean water quality

Changes in the Mediterranean water quality are demonstrated by the demographic variations of three species of dolphins Tursiops truncatus, Delphinus delphise, Stenella coeruleoalba. living in the Mediterranean sea; statistics of dolphins stranded on Corsican shores confirm an excess of young mortality which implies overnatality. Histological studies and scanning observations (MEB) of tissues samples from the lung and mesenterium show that the diseases are concomitant with high levels of Hg, Pb, Cd.