2. Materials and methodsSamples of

2. Materials and methods
Samples of Antarctic animals from various trophic
levels were collected from the Weddell Sea and the waters
around Elephant Island and the South Shetland
Islands between 1986 and 2000 (Table 1). Blubber
samples were obtained from immobilised Weddell and
southern elephant seals after dermal incision. Pressure
on the preen gland of Adelie penguins allowed pipetting
drops of preen gland oil. Six fish species, glacial squid
and Antarctic krill were collected during several cruises
of RV ‘‘Polarstern’’ by bottom and midwater trawls
respectively. All samples were stored at )30 C. Samples