Marine Mammal Research Unit, University of British Columbia, 2202 Main Mall, Room 247, AERL, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Mar Pollut Bull. 2011 Jun;62(6):1303-16. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2011.02.029.
Entanglement in and ingestion of synthetic marine debris is increasingly recognized worldwide as an important stressor for marine wildlife, including marine mammals. Studying its impact on wildlife populations is complicated by the inherently cryptic nature of the problem. The coastal waters of British Columbia (BC), Canada provide important habitat for marine mammal species, many of which have unfavorable conservation status in the US and Canada. As a priority-setting exercise, we used data from systematic line-transect surveys and spatial modeling methods to map at-sea distribution of debris and 11 marine mammal species in BC waters, and to identify areas of overlap. We estimated abundance of 36,000 (CIs: 23,000-56,600) pieces of marine debris in the region. Areas of overlap were often far removed from urban centers, suggesting that the extent of marine mammal-debris interactions would be underestimated from opportunistic sightings and stranding records, and that high-overlap areas should be prioritized by stranding response networks.
在世界各地，人们越来越认识到，合成海洋垃圾的缠绕和摄入是海洋野生动物（包括海洋哺乳动物）的一个重要压力源。由于该问题本质上具有隐匿性，因此研究其对野生动物种群的影响变得复杂。加拿大不列颠哥伦比亚省（BC）的沿海水域为许多海洋哺乳动物物种提供了重要的栖息地，这些物种在美国和加拿大的保护状况都不容乐观。作为一项优先事项，我们使用来自系统的线截调查和空间建模方法的数据，绘制了不列颠哥伦比亚省海域的海洋垃圾和 11 种海洋哺乳动物的海上分布情况，并确定了重叠区域。我们估计该地区有 36,000 件（置信区间：23,000-56,600 件）海洋碎片。重叠区域通常远离城市中心，这表明从偶然观察和搁浅记录中，海洋哺乳动物与碎片之间的相互作用范围会被低估，而且高重叠区域应该是搁浅响应网络的优先事项。
