VOYAGE OF THE ODYSSEY

The Voyage of the Odyssey is unique because in our work throughout the world we will use the same methods for collecting data and analyzing results. This will make it possible for the first time to draw comparisons between contaminant loads throughout the world's oceans - giving us the first truly comprehensive worldwide assessment of the ecotoxicological risks facing humans and other animals that depend on the marine environment for food.

The core science of this project hinges on the premise that because whales and albatrosses are wide-ranging marine animals that feed in the same food web as commercially important fish species, they make excellent indicators of the health of that web, and thus of the health risks that all animals, including humans, face by eating food from the seas. Our data will demonstrate concentrations of contaminants as well as the biological consequences of contaminant burdens. In the first years we will focus on whales, but later will increase our research effort with albatrosses and add a new research program on South American sealions -- a species that may have high contaminant levels even though it lives in remote areas.