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A First Comparison of Microplastics Abundance between Two Whale Shark Feeding Areas of the Gulf of California, Mexico.
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Researchers compared microplastic concentrations in water from two whale shark feeding areas in the Gulf of California, Mexico, finding 0.47-0.63 microplastic particles per cubic meter. Films and fibers dominated the particle types, raising concerns because whale sharks are filter feeders that consume large volumes of surface water.
Abstract Abundance and typology of microplastics (MPs) were measured in 12 water samples collected from two whale sharks feeding areas of the Gulf of California (Bahía de los Angeles (BLA) and Bahia de La Paz (LAP)). The concentration of MPs was 0.47 MPs/ m 3 in BLA and 0.63 MPs/ m 3 in LAP. Overall, films were the most abundant type of MPs (41%; n = 74) followed by line (37%; n = 68), fragments (20%; n = 36) and pellet (2%; n = 3), with significative differences between the types of microplastics. Theoretical ingestion rate per hour of MPs for the species was determined to be 288.58 and 386.82 in BLA and LAP, respectively. In faecal samples collected directly from animals of LAP (n = 3), 67% of the MPs were films, 25% were fragments, and 8% were lines. Results from this study indicate that MPs are common in the feeding areas of this endangered species and that whale sharks are likely ingesting MPs from filtering the surface water.
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