First Evidence of Retrospective Findings of Microplastics in Harbour Porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) From German Waters
Microplastic ingestion by lower trophic level organisms is well known, whereas information on microplastic ingestion, egestion and accumulation by top predators such as cetaceans is still lacking. This study investigates microplastics in intestinal samples from harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena)...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.682532 https://doaj.org/article/45f9ec09d08541e4a89567b65a142164 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:45f9ec09d08541e4a89567b65a142164 2023-05-15T17:59:09+02:00 First Evidence of Retrospective Findings of Microplastics in Harbour Porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) From German Waters Carolin Philipp Bianca Unger Sonja M. Ehlers Jochen H. E. Koop Ursula Siebert 2021-05-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.682532 https://doaj.org/article/45f9ec09d08541e4a89567b65a142164 EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.682532/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-7745 2296-7745 doi:10.3389/fmars.2021.682532 https://doaj.org/article/45f9ec09d08541e4a89567b65a142164 Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol 8 (2021) microplastic burden FTIR marine mammals cetacean North Sea Baltic Sea Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.682532 2022-12-31T10:35:47Z Microplastic ingestion by lower trophic level organisms is well known, whereas information on microplastic ingestion, egestion and accumulation by top predators such as cetaceans is still lacking. This study investigates microplastics in intestinal samples from harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) found along the coastline of Schleswig-Holstein (Germany) between 2014 and 2018. Out of 30 individuals found along the North Sea (NS) and the Baltic Sea (BS) coast, 28 specimens contained microplastic. This study found a relationship between the nutritional status of cetaceans and the amount of found microplastics. Harbour porpoises with a good or moderate nutritional status contained a higher number of microplastics, when compared with specimens in a poor nutritional status. In addition, when individuals died accidently due to suspected bycatch in gillnets, where a feeding event is highly assumed or a pharyngeal entrapment happened, the microplastic burden was higher. In total, 401 microplastics (≥100 μm), including 202 fibres and 199 fragments were found. Intestines of the specimens of the BS contained more microplastics than the ones from the NS. Differences in the share of fibres could be revealed: for BS fibres constituted 51.44% and for NS, fibres constituted 47.97%. The polymers polyester, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyamide, acrylic (with nitrile component) and an acrylic/alkyd paint chip (with styrene and kaolin components) were identified. This is the first study investigating the occurrence of microplastics in harbour porpoises from German waters and will, thus, provide valuable information on the actual burden of microplastics in cetaceans from the North and Baltic Seas. Article in Journal/Newspaper Phocoena phocoena Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Frontiers in Marine Science 8 |
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Open Polar |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
microplastic burden FTIR marine mammals cetacean North Sea Baltic Sea Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 |
spellingShingle |
microplastic burden FTIR marine mammals cetacean North Sea Baltic Sea Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 Carolin Philipp Bianca Unger Sonja M. Ehlers Jochen H. E. Koop Ursula Siebert First Evidence of Retrospective Findings of Microplastics in Harbour Porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) From German Waters |
topic_facet |
microplastic burden FTIR marine mammals cetacean North Sea Baltic Sea Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 |
description |
Microplastic ingestion by lower trophic level organisms is well known, whereas information on microplastic ingestion, egestion and accumulation by top predators such as cetaceans is still lacking. This study investigates microplastics in intestinal samples from harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) found along the coastline of Schleswig-Holstein (Germany) between 2014 and 2018. Out of 30 individuals found along the North Sea (NS) and the Baltic Sea (BS) coast, 28 specimens contained microplastic. This study found a relationship between the nutritional status of cetaceans and the amount of found microplastics. Harbour porpoises with a good or moderate nutritional status contained a higher number of microplastics, when compared with specimens in a poor nutritional status. In addition, when individuals died accidently due to suspected bycatch in gillnets, where a feeding event is highly assumed or a pharyngeal entrapment happened, the microplastic burden was higher. In total, 401 microplastics (≥100 μm), including 202 fibres and 199 fragments were found. Intestines of the specimens of the BS contained more microplastics than the ones from the NS. Differences in the share of fibres could be revealed: for BS fibres constituted 51.44% and for NS, fibres constituted 47.97%. The polymers polyester, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyamide, acrylic (with nitrile component) and an acrylic/alkyd paint chip (with styrene and kaolin components) were identified. This is the first study investigating the occurrence of microplastics in harbour porpoises from German waters and will, thus, provide valuable information on the actual burden of microplastics in cetaceans from the North and Baltic Seas. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Carolin Philipp Bianca Unger Sonja M. Ehlers Jochen H. E. Koop Ursula Siebert |
author_facet |
Carolin Philipp Bianca Unger Sonja M. Ehlers Jochen H. E. Koop Ursula Siebert |
author_sort |
Carolin Philipp |
title |
First Evidence of Retrospective Findings of Microplastics in Harbour Porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) From German Waters |
title_short |
First Evidence of Retrospective Findings of Microplastics in Harbour Porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) From German Waters |
title_full |
First Evidence of Retrospective Findings of Microplastics in Harbour Porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) From German Waters |
title_fullStr |
First Evidence of Retrospective Findings of Microplastics in Harbour Porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) From German Waters |
title_full_unstemmed |
First Evidence of Retrospective Findings of Microplastics in Harbour Porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) From German Waters |
title_sort |
first evidence of retrospective findings of microplastics in harbour porpoises (phocoena phocoena) from german waters |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.682532 https://doaj.org/article/45f9ec09d08541e4a89567b65a142164 |
genre |
Phocoena phocoena |
genre_facet |
Phocoena phocoena |
op_source |
Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol 8 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.682532/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-7745 2296-7745 doi:10.3389/fmars.2021.682532 https://doaj.org/article/45f9ec09d08541e4a89567b65a142164 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.682532 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Marine Science |
container_volume |
8 |
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1766167917995491328 |