Whales, Dolphins Are Already Partly Made of Plastic Due to Ocean Pollution [Study]

(Photo: Wikimedia Commons/Jeremy Bishop)
Whales, Dolphins Are Already Partly Made of Plastic Due to Ocean Pollution [Study]

The animals in the oceans are undeniably gravely affected by pollution. A new study suggests that whales and dolphins have embedded plastics in their organs.

Ocean Pollution Results in Whales, Dolphins Made of Plastic

Whales and dolphins now contain a portion of plastic due to ocean pollution. Two-thirds of the marine creatures investigated had small plastic particles stuck in their lipids and lungs, according to a Duke University graduate student studying environmental pollution.

The study evaluated samples from 32 stranded mammals-or those exploited for meat-in Alaska, California, and North Carolina between 2000 and 2021. A bearded seal was among the twelve species that were examined overall.

The new study raises the possibility that when consumed, microplastics can travel through the digestive tract and become stuck in tissues on the way. Scientists already know that plastic pollution seriously threatens the ocean's animals. Plastics were discovered in all four tissues of three types of fats and lungs.

Climate change, pollution, noise, and now ingesting plastic and dealing with the large pieces in their stomachs on top of that are additional burdens, according to Greg Merrill Jr., a fifth-year graduate student at the Duke University Marine Lab, in a press release. He noted that some of their mass is made of plastic.

Plastics may interfere with endocrine gland function and operate as hormone mimics. Lipophilic refers to the attraction of fats to plastics. This may have contributed to their ease of entanglement in the whale's fat.

The study noted that the plastic had dimensions ranging from 198 millimeters to 537 microns. Human hair is approximately 100 microns in diameter.

Merrill and his colleagues are investigating potential metabolic effects now that the know at plastic is present in these tissues. Most microplastics travel through the gut and end up in the feces, although they haven't done the calculation.

Merrill added that some of it is making its way into the tissues of the animals. He said this merely highlights the problem's scope and the pervasiveness of ocean plastid. Some samples are from 2001, suggesting the problem has been going on for over 20 years.

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Ocean Pollution

Another study by a global team of scientists led by Boston College's Global Observatory on Pollution and Health and the Centre Scientifique de Monaco, with funding from the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, finds that ocean pollution is pervasive and getting worse, endangering the health and well-being of more than 3 billion people when they reach the shore.

According to Professor Philip Landrigan, M.D., the director of the observatory and BC's worldwide Public Health and the Common Good Program, ocean pollution is a significant worldwide issue that is only getting worse and directly impacts human health. The oceans are contaminated with plastic, but that is only a portion of the problem.

The research showed that a complex concoction of poisons, including mercury, pesticides, synthetic chemicals embedded in plastic, industrial chemicals, petroleum wastes, and agricultural runoff, are polluting the oceans. People ingest these hazardous substances from the water, primarily consuming contaminated seafood.

While everyone is at risk, those living in coastal fishing communities, on small islands, among the native population, and in the high Arctic are the ones who will be most severely impacted. Landrigan added that these fragile populations depend on the health of the waters for their own survival.