Center for Coastal Studies, 5 Holway Avenue, Provincetown, MA 02657, USA.
Center for Coastal Studies, 5 Holway Avenue, Provincetown, MA 02657, USA.
Mar Pollut Bull. 2019 Aug;145:390-395. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.06.020. Epub 2019 Jun 21.
Anthropogenic micro debris in the marine environment is a growing concern worldwide, affecting multiple trophic levels, from primary consumers such as zooplankton, to meso- and apex predators like marine mammals and marine birds. In 2016-2017, during the processing of harbor seal (Phoca vitulina vitulina) and gray seal (Halichoerus grypus atlantica) fecal samples for fish otoliths and organic hard parts as part of a prey study, anthropogenic micro debris (>500 μm) was detected in 6% (n = 2/32) of harbor seal and 1% (n = 2/129) of gray seal samples. Spectral analysis identified the fragments as cellophane, alkyd resin and poly(ethylene:propylene:diene) (EPDM) rubber. These results show the potential indirect ingestion of micro debris, which can impact the health and welfare of marine wildlife. This is the first report of micro debris presence in wild populations of phocid seals for the northwestern Atlantic.
人为微碎屑在海洋环境中是一个日益严重的问题，影响了多个营养层次，从浮游动物等初级消费者，到海洋哺乳动物和海鸟等中型和顶级捕食者。在 2016-2017 年，在处理港湾海豹（Phoca vitulina vitulina）和灰海豹（Halichoerus grypus atlantica）粪便样本以研究鱼类耳石和有机硬组织作为猎物研究的一部分时，在 6%（n=2/32）的港湾海豹和 1%（n=2/129）的灰海豹样本中检测到人为微碎屑（>500μm）。光谱分析确定这些碎片为玻璃纸、醇酸树脂和三元乙丙橡胶（EPDM）。这些结果表明存在微碎屑的潜在间接摄入，这可能会影响海洋野生动物的健康和福利。这是西北大西洋野生海豹种群中首次报告微碎屑存在的情况。
