Feathers recently taken from seabirds stuffed and preserved in the 1880s have been found to contain only half as much mercury as feathers recently taken from living birds of the same species
Since mercury that accumulates in a seabird' s feathers as the feathers grow is derived from fish eaten by the bird, these results indicate that mercury levels in saltwater fish are higher now than they were 100 years ago
the amount of mercury in a saltwater fish depends on the amount of pollution in the ocean habitat of the fish