Cetacean Ecology Research Group, School of Natural Sciences, Massey University, Private Bag 102 904, Auckland 0745, New Zealand.
Institute of Environmental Science and Research, 27 Creyke Rd, Ilam, Christchurch 8041, New Zealand.
Mar Pollut Bull. 2021 Dec;173(Pt B):113084. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.113084. Epub 2021 Nov 11.
Here we provide a first assessment of microplastics (MPs) in stomach contents of 15 common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) from both single and mass stranding events along the New Zealand coast between 2019 and 2020. MPs were observed in all examined individuals, with an average of 7.8 pieces per stomach. Most MPs were fragments (77%, n = 90) as opposed to fibres (23%, n = 27), with translucent/clear (46%) the most prevalent colour. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy revealed polyethylene terephthalate (65%) as the most predominant polymer in fibres, whereas polypropylene (31%) and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (20%) were more frequently recorded as fragments. Mean fragment and fibre size was 584 μm and 1567 μm, respectively. No correlation between total number of MPs and biological parameters (total body length, age, sexual maturity, axillary girth, or blubber thickness) was observed, with similar levels of MPs observed between each of the mass stranding events. Considering MPs are being increasingly linked to a wide range of deleterious effects across taxa, these findings in a typically pelagic marine sentinel species warrants further investigation.
本研究首次评估了 2019 年至 2020 年期间新西兰沿海地区单次和群体搁浅事件中 15 头宽吻海豚胃内容物中的微塑料（MPs）。所有检查个体中均观察到 MPs，平均每个胃中有 7.8 个 MPs。大多数 MPs 为碎片（77%，n=90），而纤维（23%，n=27）较少，半透明/透明（46%）是最常见的颜色。傅里叶变换红外（FTIR）光谱显示纤维中最主要的聚合物为聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯（65%），而丙烯腈-丁二烯-苯乙烯（20%）和聚丙烯（31%）则更常被记录为碎片。碎片和纤维的平均尺寸分别为 584μm 和 1567μm。未观察到 MPs 总数与生物学参数（全长、年龄、性成熟度、腋窝周长或鲸脂厚度）之间存在相关性，每个群体搁浅事件之间的 MPs 水平相似。鉴于 MPs 与跨分类群的一系列有害影响越来越相关，在典型的海洋浮游生物哨兵物种中发现的这些结果值得进一步研究。
