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All guts, no glory: ingested microplastics in marine mammals
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This brief review summarized findings on microplastic ingestion by marine mammals, noting that microplastics have been found in a wide range of marine habitats and are consumed by animals from the base of the food chain to large top predators. Marine mammals serve as important sentinels for tracking microplastic contamination through marine ecosystems.
Microplastics (pieces less than 5 mm in size) have now been discovered in a wide range of aquatic habitats, from deep-sea sediments to seemingly pristine tropical beaches. Their small size and omnipresence mean that microplastics can be eaten by animals at the base of the food chain as well as larger animals. - submission by Sarah Nelms
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Marine litter: trends and impacts in marine fauna
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This review synthesizes evidence on marine litter sources, distribution, and ecological impacts, with particular focus on microplastics as a pervasive contaminant across all marine habitats. It finds that microplastics threaten marine life through ingestion, entanglement, and chemical transport, with impacts spanning trophic levels from plankton to large marine mammals.
Ingestion of Microplastics by Marine Animals
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This review examines microplastic ingestion by marine animals, assessing how the small size and ubiquity of microplastics in oceans leads to widespread consumption across species, with effects ranging from physical gut blockage to chemical toxicity at organism and ecosystem levels.
Microplastics in marine mammals stranded around the British coast: ubiquitous but transitory?
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Researchers examined the entire digestive tracts of 50 stranded marine mammals from 10 species around the British coast and found microplastics in every single animal. However, the relatively low particle counts suggest that microplastics may pass through the gut rather than accumulate permanently. The findings indicate that microplastic ingestion is ubiquitous among marine mammals, though the long-term health consequences remain unclear.
Microplastics in marine mammals stranded around the British coast: ubiquitous but transitory?
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Researchers examined whole digestive tracts of 50 stranded marine mammals from 10 UK species and found microplastics in every animal (mean 5.5 particles). The low numbers and predominance in stomachs versus intestines suggest particles are largely transitory rather than accumulating permanently in marine mammal guts.
Microplastic in tissue of marine organisms
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This review summarizes microplastic detection across various marine organism tissues, cataloging accumulation in fish, invertebrates, and marine mammals and highlighting that ingestion and trophic transfer are widespread across marine food webs.
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When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.