Filimon Adrian, Ciucă Andreea-Mădălina, Harcotă George-Emanuel, Stoica Elena
National Institute for Marine Research and Development "Grigore Antipa", 300 Mamaia Blvd., 900581 Constanta, Romania.
Doctoral School Biotechnical Systems Engineering, University POLITEHNICA of Bucharest, 060042 Bucharest, Romania.
Animals (Basel). 2024 Mar 13;14(6):886. doi: 10.3390/ani14060886.
Plastic pollution is a global concern that has a significant impact on marine life. Plastic is widely used and has become a pervasive pollutant in marine environments. Plastic contamination has been documented both in marine environments and biota. Plastic contamination in cetacean gastro-intestinal tract (GIT) content has received limited attention, especially in the Black Sea. This study aims to investigate plastic contamination in the GITs of bottlenose dolphins and harbour porpoises, introducing a novel methodology. Given the limited exploration of this issue in the Black Sea, the research predominantly focuses on microplastic contamination. The GITs were sampled through necropsy from stranded and by-caught cetaceans, and content was washed through a multi-sieves tool. The material retained on each sieve was analysed following specific protocols. All (100%) of the GITs contained plastics (meso- and microplastics). In total, 1059 items (fibres, fragments, and beads) ranging from 22.86 µm to 5776 µm were found, suggesting a high contamination level in the Black Sea cetaceans. Future efforts should concentrate on increasing the number of samples and using the results for the implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD).
塑料污染是一个全球关注的问题，对海洋生物有重大影响。塑料被广泛使用，已成为海洋环境中一种普遍存在的污染物。在海洋环境和生物群中都有塑料污染的记录。鲸类胃肠道（GIT）内容物中的塑料污染受到的关注有限，尤其是在黑海。本研究旨在采用一种新方法，调查宽吻海豚和港湾鼠海豚胃肠道中的塑料污染情况。鉴于黑海对这一问题的探索有限，该研究主要关注微塑料污染。通过对搁浅和误捕的鲸类进行尸检采集胃肠道样本，并使用多筛工具冲洗内容物。按照特定方案对每个筛子上保留的物质进行分析。所有（100%）的胃肠道都含有塑料（中型和微型塑料）。总共发现了1059个物品（纤维、碎片和珠子），大小从22.86微米到5776微米不等，这表明黑海鲸类的污染程度很高。未来的工作应集中在增加样本数量，并将结果用于实施《海洋战略框架指令》（MSFD）。
