Department of Ocean Sciences, Inha University, 100 Inha-ro, Michuhol-gu, Incheon 22212, Republic of Korea; Program in Biomedical Science and Engineering, Inha University, 100 Inha-ro, Michuhol-gu, Incheon 22212, Republic of Korea.
World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF- Korea), 207, Seoul Global Center, 38, Jong-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Mar Pollut Bull. 2020 Oct;159:111514. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111514. Epub 2020 Aug 5.
Marine pollution caused by plastic litter can threaten the survival and health of marine organisms. In 2019, a juvenile fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus, length: 13.02 m, weight 12,000 kg) was found dead floating on the sea near Jeju Island, Republic of Korea. During the dissection, 45 plastic particles were found in the body of the whale, including fishing lines, plastic filaments, pieces of fishing nets, and Styrofoam particles. The largest item found was a piece of fishing line (1180 mm in length and 1.15 mm in thickness). Filaments, both bundled and separated, were more frequent. Some of the filaments found were entangled with the baleen plate bristles. These observations suggest that plastic pollution is a potential risk for baleen whale species. This is the first record of plastic ingestion by a vulnerable baleen whale species in the sea off East Asia.
海洋塑料垃圾污染可能威胁海洋生物的生存和健康。2019 年，在韩国济州岛附近海域发现了一头死亡的幼年长须鲸（Balaenoptera physalus，体长：13.02 米，体重 12000 千克）。在解剖过程中，在鲸鱼的体内发现了 45 个塑料颗粒，包括钓鱼线、塑料细丝、渔网碎片和泡沫塑料颗粒。发现的最大物品是一段钓鱼线（长 1180 毫米，厚 1.15 毫米）。捆绑和分离的细丝更为常见。一些细丝与鲸须板的刚毛缠绕在一起。这些观察结果表明，塑料污染对须鲸物种是一个潜在的风险。这是东亚海域首次记录到脆弱的须鲸物种摄入塑料。
