Mercury (Hg) pollution is a global problem affecting remote areas of the open ocean, but the bioaccumulation of this neurotoxic pollutant in tropical top predators remains poorly documented. The objective of this study was to determine Hg contamination of the seabird community nesting on Clipperton Island using blood and feathers to investigate short and longer-term contamination, respectively. We examined the significance of various factors (species, sex, feeding habitat [δ¹³C] and trophic position [δ¹⁵N]) on Hg concentrations in six seabird species. Among species, Great Frigatebirds had the highest Hg concentrations in blood and feathers, boobies had intermediate values, and Brown Noddies and Sooty Terns the lowest. At the interspecific level, although δ¹³C values segregated boobies from frigatebirds and noddies/terns, Hg concentrations were explained by neither δ¹³C nor δ¹⁵N values. At the intraspecific level, both Hg concentrations in blood and feathers show relatively small variations (16–32 and 26–74%, respectively), suggesting that feeding ecology had low seasonal variation among individuals. Despite most species being sexually dimorphic, differences in Hg contamination according to sex was detected only in Brown Boobies during the breeding period. Indeed, female Brown Boobies feed at a higher trophic level and in a different area than males during this period, resulting in higher blood Hg concentrations. The present study also shows that most of the seabirds sampled at Clipperton Island had little or no exposure to Hg toxicity, with 30% in the no risk category and 70% in the low risk category.

汞 (Hg) 污染是一个影响公海偏远地区的全球性问题，但这种神经毒性污染物在热带顶级捕食者体内的生物累积情况仍鲜有记录。本研究的目的是利用血液和羽毛分别调查短期和长期污染，以确定克利珀顿岛筑巢的海鸟群落的汞污染情况。^{我们研究了各种因素（物种、性别、摄食栖息地 [δ 13} C] 和营养位置 [δ ¹⁵ N]）对六种海鸟汞浓度的影响。在不同物种中，大军舰鸟血液和羽毛中的汞浓度最高，鲣鸟的汞浓度居中，褐诺迪鸟和乌燕鸥的汞浓度最低。在种间水平上，虽然 δ ¹³ C 值将鲣鸟与军舰鸟和北鲣鸟/燕鸥分开，但汞浓度既不能用 δ ¹³ C 值也不能用 δ ¹⁵ N 值来解释。在种内水平上，血液和羽毛中的汞浓度变化相对较小（分别为 16-32% 和 26-74%），表明个体间摄食生态的季节性变化较小。尽管大多数物种具有性别二态性，但仅在繁殖期间的棕色鲣鸟中检测到汞污染随性别的差异。事实上，在此期间，雌性棕鲣鸟在比雄性更高的营养水平和不同的区域进食，导致血液汞浓度更高。本研究还表明，在克利珀顿岛采样的大多数海鸟很少或根本没有接触汞毒性，其中 30% 属于无风险类别，70% 属于低风险类别。