No microplastics detected in the first assessment of Atlantic walrus stomachs from Nunavut, Canada
As plastic pollution continues to persist at a global level, the Arctic has drawn increased research interest as a possible sink for marine pollutants. Plastic and microplastics are highly durable and can be transported across vast distances. To date, only a handful of studies have directly assessed...
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Language: | English |
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Canadian Science Publishing
2023
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/as-2023-0002 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/as-2023-0002 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/as-2023-0002 |
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crcansciencepubl:10.1139/as-2023-0002 2024-06-23T07:48:07+00:00 No microplastics detected in the first assessment of Atlantic walrus stomachs from Nunavut, Canada Jardine, Alexander M. Matthews, Cory J.D. Provencher, Jennifer F. Hornby, Claire Gamberg, Mary Bourdages, Madelaine P.T. Alexander, David Naullaq, Manasie Vermaire, Jesse C. 2023 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/as-2023-0002 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/as-2023-0002 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/as-2023-0002 en eng Canadian Science Publishing https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en_GB Arctic Science ISSN 2368-7460 journal-article 2023 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2023-0002 2024-06-06T04:11:16Z As plastic pollution continues to persist at a global level, the Arctic has drawn increased research interest as a possible sink for marine pollutants. Plastic and microplastics are highly durable and can be transported across vast distances. To date, only a handful of studies have directly assessed microplastics in Arctic mammals. In Canada, it is still unclear whether they show a concrete propensity for microplastic retention and ingestion. Atlantic walruses ( Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus (Linnaeus, 1758)) are economically and culturally important for Inuit and are key predators in Arctic marine ecosystems. Here, we present the first assessment of microplastic pollution in Canadian walruses and the first gastrointestinal assessment of microplastic in walruses globally. Since microplastics accumulate in benthic sediment and animals, we expected that walruses may ingest and retain microplastic contaminants when sifting in search of prey or when eating contaminated bivalves and invertebrates. We detected no microplastics ≥80 µm in our evaluation of 36 walruses from five communities in NU, Canada. Our results suggest that walruses in this region do not retain microplastic particles ≥80 µm in their stomachs, which is consistent with findings in other pinnipeds that have been evaluated in Arctic Canada. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic inuit Nunavut Odobenus rosmarus walrus* Canadian Science Publishing Arctic Canada Nunavut Arctic Science |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Canadian Science Publishing |
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crcansciencepubl |
language |
English |
description |
As plastic pollution continues to persist at a global level, the Arctic has drawn increased research interest as a possible sink for marine pollutants. Plastic and microplastics are highly durable and can be transported across vast distances. To date, only a handful of studies have directly assessed microplastics in Arctic mammals. In Canada, it is still unclear whether they show a concrete propensity for microplastic retention and ingestion. Atlantic walruses ( Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus (Linnaeus, 1758)) are economically and culturally important for Inuit and are key predators in Arctic marine ecosystems. Here, we present the first assessment of microplastic pollution in Canadian walruses and the first gastrointestinal assessment of microplastic in walruses globally. Since microplastics accumulate in benthic sediment and animals, we expected that walruses may ingest and retain microplastic contaminants when sifting in search of prey or when eating contaminated bivalves and invertebrates. We detected no microplastics ≥80 µm in our evaluation of 36 walruses from five communities in NU, Canada. Our results suggest that walruses in this region do not retain microplastic particles ≥80 µm in their stomachs, which is consistent with findings in other pinnipeds that have been evaluated in Arctic Canada. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Jardine, Alexander M. Matthews, Cory J.D. Provencher, Jennifer F. Hornby, Claire Gamberg, Mary Bourdages, Madelaine P.T. Alexander, David Naullaq, Manasie Vermaire, Jesse C. |
spellingShingle |
Jardine, Alexander M. Matthews, Cory J.D. Provencher, Jennifer F. Hornby, Claire Gamberg, Mary Bourdages, Madelaine P.T. Alexander, David Naullaq, Manasie Vermaire, Jesse C. No microplastics detected in the first assessment of Atlantic walrus stomachs from Nunavut, Canada |
author_facet |
Jardine, Alexander M. Matthews, Cory J.D. Provencher, Jennifer F. Hornby, Claire Gamberg, Mary Bourdages, Madelaine P.T. Alexander, David Naullaq, Manasie Vermaire, Jesse C. |
author_sort |
Jardine, Alexander M. |
title |
No microplastics detected in the first assessment of Atlantic walrus stomachs from Nunavut, Canada |
title_short |
No microplastics detected in the first assessment of Atlantic walrus stomachs from Nunavut, Canada |
title_full |
No microplastics detected in the first assessment of Atlantic walrus stomachs from Nunavut, Canada |
title_fullStr |
No microplastics detected in the first assessment of Atlantic walrus stomachs from Nunavut, Canada |
title_full_unstemmed |
No microplastics detected in the first assessment of Atlantic walrus stomachs from Nunavut, Canada |
title_sort |
no microplastics detected in the first assessment of atlantic walrus stomachs from nunavut, canada |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/as-2023-0002 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/as-2023-0002 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/as-2023-0002 |
geographic |
Arctic Canada Nunavut |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Canada Nunavut |
genre |
Arctic Arctic inuit Nunavut Odobenus rosmarus walrus* |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic inuit Nunavut Odobenus rosmarus walrus* |
op_source |
Arctic Science ISSN 2368-7460 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en_GB |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2023-0002 |
container_title |
Arctic Science |
_version_ |
1802638551719870464 |