Oil pollution has never occurred in Greenland, but concessions for offshore oil drilling along the West Greenland coast have just been granted by the Danish Government, and this new development gives rise for concern. However, it is clearly stated in the concession that the Ministry for Greenland can lay down rules for protection against oil pollution and other damage to human or animal life, and can adopt measures to fight pollution which has already taken place (section 5(9)). It is up to the concessionary to oversee industrial developments in the area and see that marine pollution is avoided (section 11).
Toxic chemicals have been found in Greenland seabirds, as everywhere else in the world, but it must be emphasized that no pesticides whatsoever are in use in Greenland itself. Investigations by Somer and Appelquist (1974) indicated that the mercury content in black guillemots in Greenland has doubled over the last 20 years, and has now reached 2 ppm, which is, however, a relatively low figure. Levels of DDE, PCB, and aldrin in Greenland birds were investigated by Braestrup et al. (1974). Common eider, king eider, harlequin duck, and oldsquaw, as well as thick-billed murre and great cormorant, were examined; all were found to be contaminated with pesticides, although to varying degrees. Highest concentrations occurred in the cormorant, which contained 6.5-15 ppm of DDE and 14.1-46.7 ppm of PCB. These specific differences appear to show that the pesticide level in the different species of seabirds is influenced more by the position of the bird in the food chain than by its migratory habits.
And finally, I wish to mention a more happy event. On 9 May 1974 a new law of nature protection in Greenland was passed by the Danish Parliament. According to this law, a National Park is to be established covering almost the entire northeast and north regions of Greenland, from the Thule District in northern West Greenland around the entire north coast of Greenland and south along the east coast to the northern inner parts of Scoresby Sound. All hunting, fishing, egg-collecting, and disturbances to the environment are forbidden in this enormous area. This is by far the greatest National Park in the world, covering about 800,000 km2. Of this total area, the greater part is a lifeless icecap, to be sure, but about 200,000 km2 is ice-free land and suitable habitat for numerous high-arctic birds.
References
Anonymous. 1974. Grønland 1973, Arsberetning. Vol. 4. Ministeriet for Grønland, Copenhagen. 106 pp.
Atkinson-Willes, G. L. 1972. The international wildfowl censuses as a basis for wetland evaluation and hunting rationalization. Pages 87-110 in Proc. Int. Conf. Conserv. Wetlands Waterfowl, Iran 1971.
Bartonek, J. C., J. G. King, and H. K. Nelson. 1971. Problems confronting migratory birds in Alaska. Trans. N. Am. Wildl. Nat. Resour. Conf. 36:345-361.
Bloch, D. 1970. The mute swan (Cygnus olor) breeding in colony in Denmark. [Danish with English summary.] Dansk Ornith. Foren. Tidsskr. 64:152-162.
Bloch, D. 1971. Ynglebestanden af knopsvane (Cygnus olor) i Danmark 1966. Danske Vildtundersøgelser 16. 47 pp.
Bloch, D., C. H. Ovesen, B. H. Fenger, J. Jensen, and J. Pedersen. 1972. Vildtreservatet Nakskov Indrefjord. Resume af biologiske, kemiske og fysiske underseøgelser i 1970-1971. Vildtbiologisk Station, Kalø, Rønde. 15 pp.