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Characterization of macroplastics ingested by 23% of stranded short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus) in the Main Hawaiian Islands (2010−2023)
Original title: Characterization of macroplastics ingested by 23% of stranded short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus) in the Main Hawaiian Islands (2010−2023)
Summary
Scientists found that nearly a quarter of stranded pilot whales examined in Hawaii had swallowed huge amounts of plastic trash—mostly old fishing line, rope, and netting—with some whales carrying over 30,000 plastic pieces in their stomachs. While plastic wasn't confirmed as the direct cause of death in these cases, this shows how ocean plastic pollution, especially discarded fishing gear, is accumulating in marine life at a scale that raises red flags about the health of the ocean food web we all depend on.
We examined the gastrointestinal tracts of 13 short-finned pilot whales that stranded between 2010 and 2023 in the Main Hawaiian Islands. Large, tangled masses of marine debris were observed at necropsy in stomachs of 3 of the 13 individuals examined, a frequency of occurrence of 23.1% (95% CI: ~5-54%). These findings increase the number of reported global cases of marine debris ingestion by short-finned pilot whales from 7 to 10. The total dry mass after 2.5 h at 60 °C of the ingested marine debris among the three individuals ranged from 561.4 to 1870.6 g with 6283-35,543 plastic pieces (>5 mm) found per stomach. Ingested marine debris were categorized as monofilament, multifilament, sheet plastic, hard fragment, or miscellaneous items. In all three whales, monofilament line and multifilament rope and netting, which we classify as abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) marine litter, comprised 70.2-84.2% of the macroplastics found by count, and 74.4-86.3% by mass. Sheet plastic (e.g. carrier or garbage bags) was also significant among the items recovered from the stomachs in all three individuals. By count, most of the plastic pieces were in the 5-20 mm or 20-100 mm size classes, but the greatest contribution by mass came from items in the >200 mm size class. Despite the substantial quantities of ingested plastic debris, there was no direct evidence that marine debris ingestion was the cause of death in any of the three cases. Our findings demonstrate the vulnerability of short-finned pilot whales to ALDFG ingestion, and highlight concerns regarding potential sub-lethal impacts, and contribute to greater understanding of the scale and composition of plastic ingestion in cetaceans.