Late last year scientists found that a shopping bag may be torn into millions of small pieces, the resulting micro-plastic is very difficult to track.Now scientists have found a small piece of plastic debris in the seal droppings, which is plastic in the ocean The first evidence on the mammalian food chain Researchers from Plymouth Marine Laboratory, the University of Exeter and the Cornwall Seal Sanctuary have found that plastic in the seal droppings is not that surprising.
Earlier research found evidence of so-called nutrient transfer, in which zooplankton or plastic-containing fish in the body were preyed on by another animal to synthesize polymers into predators.
But in the past, this phenomenon was observed only in marine animals such as smaller mussels and crabs. It was difficult to observe the process of nutrient transfer in large wild animals. Therefore, the team turned to seals in the reserve. Living in Cornwall Male grey seals in the Seal Reserve were fed a complete wild Atlantic salmon. By analyzing the digestive tracts of these fish, the team found that one third of them contained one to four plastic fibers and debris, the most common type being used for plastic bags and Polyethylene in the jar.
By analyzing the feces of seals that consumed these wild salmon, the team found that nearly half of the samples also contained one to four plastic fragments. The team said that this is the first evidence of nutritional conversion in marine mammals. 'Microplastics can be The transfer of fish to the ocean's top predators is something that we have always believed to exist, but until now, there is a lack of evidence to support our theory,' said Sarah Nelms of the research team. 'We have shown that the nutrient transfer is a micro-feeding of these predators. The indirect but potential main route, by examining the feces of the predators and the digestive tracts of the fish, we can eliminate the possibility of direct consumption of plastics from the seals and ensure that any microplastics we find are derived from fish.
According to a 2016 study, the total weight of micro-plastics on the surface of the ocean is estimated to be between 93,000 and 236,000 tons. The researchers believe that this accounts for about 1% of the total amount of marine plastic waste.
"Our research shows how microplastics can be transferred from prey to carnivores, and therefore passed through the food chain," said Dr. Pennie Lindeque, head of Plymouth Marine Laboratory's microplastics research project. "More work needs to be done to understand wildlife intake." The degree of microplastics and their possible impact on animals and ecosystems. '