Saving Seafood

Researchers Probe Orca Poop for Microplastics: Part 1

May 19, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

You might worry about your toddler chewing on a plastic toy with toxic chemicals. Some orca researchers are beginning to worry about whales ingesting a gut full of microplastics, and what that might mean for their health.

Microplastics are everywhere. Millions of tons of plastic enter our oceans annually, and much of it breaks into tiny pieces. Microplastics are plastic particles five millimeters (about two-tenths of an inch) or smaller. They represent 92 percent of plastic pieces polluting the oceans’ surface waters. Researchers have found microplastics in all major seas and oceans. They’ve also found them in the intestinal tracts of organisms at all levels of the ocean food chain, from zooplankton to fish to marine mammals.

Some scientists are concerned that microplastics and their toxic effects are bioaccumulating in killer whales, the oceans’ top predators. Endangered Southern Resident killer whales spend much of their summers in Puget Sound and the Salish Sea. Chemical contamination from pollution, particularly in young whales, is one of three primary threats to their population. Could microplastics be part of the problem?

A team of scientists with NOAA Fisheries’ Northwest Fisheries Science Center (Center) and the University of Washington have started an investigation. They are looking at what microplastics the Southern Residents are ingesting, at what scale, and whether the whales are being exposed to toxic chemicals associated with microplastics.

Read the full release here

‘Grand Challenge’ review stresses global impact of microplastics

February 25, 2020 — Professor Rob Hale of William & Mary’s Virginia Institute of Marine Science is lead author of a new “Grand Challenges” paper commissioned to mark the 100th anniversary of the American Geophysical Union, the world’s largest association of Earth and space scientists with more than 60,000 members in 137 countries.

The paper, “A Global Perspective on Microplastics,” is co-authored by VIMS doctoral student Meredith Seeley and senior research scientist Dr. Mark LaGuardia, along with Drs. Lei Mai and Eddy Zeng of Jinan University in Guangzhou, China.

“Microplastics” are  fabricated for products like facial scrubs, or produced when physical, chemical, and biological forces break down larger pieces of plastic debris. There has been widespread concern among scientists and the public that these minute synthetic fragments are impacting .

AGU Executive Director/CEO Chris McEntee says the Grand Challenges “represent a special collection of open-access review papers with the shared goal of transforming Earth and space science to meet the challenges of today and the opportunities of tomorrow. They explore where major research and discovery are needed to address fundamental questions in our understanding of Earth and the solar system.”

Read the full story at PHYS.org

Microplastics in vast majority of Oregon shellfish, study finds

November 13, 2019 — A Portland State University study found tiny pieces of plastic in the vast majority of razor clams and oysters sampled along the Oregon coast and noted that the primary source of contamination was from fibers used in synthetic textiles.

Those microscopic fibers can be shed by yoga pants, fleeces and other active wear made of synthetic textiles during a wash — up to 700,000 per load of laundry, according to the study, which was reported on Tuesday in The Oregonian/OregonLive. These fibers are in the wastewater from laundry machines that eventually winds up in the ocean, although some of the tiny plastic fibers could also come from derelict fishing gear, the newspaper said.

The shellfish in question were plucked from 15 sites, from Clatsop in the north to Gold Beach near the California border, in both the spring and summer of 2017. Of the roughly 300 shellfish analyzed, all but two contained at least some microplastics, Elise Granek, a PSU professor of environmental science and management, said.

The study was published in the journal Limnology and Oceanography Letters.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at KOMO

Newly Identified Fish Nurseries Are Choked With Plastic

November 13, 2019 — Plenty of heartbreaking stories about turtles, seabirds and whales found dead with dozens of plastic bits in their stomachs have surfaced in recent years. But a new study reveals that it’s not just adult sea animals that are getting a gullet full of plastic. Larval fish are inundated with plastic fragments in their nursery habitats and they’re eating those pieces along with their natural food sources, according to the paper published in the journal PNAS.

The finding comes from a recent study looking at where baby fish spend their time. An international team of scientists joined up with NOAA’s Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center to study an ocean habitat called surface slicks, or long lines of smooth water found paralleling coastlines that are created when internal ocean waves converge.

To do that, the team used remote sensing data to identify slicks along the coast of Hawaii then used tow surveys to scoop up plankton and larval fish in them. They found that larval fish prefer to congregate in slicks, which have lots of tasty zooplankton.

The team found the slicks have more eight times as many larval fish as surrounding waters and act as de facto fish nurseries for the first few months of a fish’s life cycle.

“We found that surface slicks contained larval fish from a wide range of ocean habitats, from shallow-water coral reefs to the open ocean and down into the deep sea—at no other point during their lives do these fish share an ocean habitat in this way,” says study co-author Jonathan Whitney, a NOAA marine ecologist, says in a press release. “Slick nurseries also concentrate lots of planktonic prey, and thereby provide an oasis of food that is critical for larval fish development and survival.”

Read the full story at Smithsonian.com

Even baby fish are eating plastics, Hawaii study finds

November 12, 2019 — Recent evidence has shown that adult fish are eating plastics in the ocean and suffering from perils such as malnutrition and toxicant buildup.

Now, for the first time, a study conducted in Hawaii shows baby fish are ingesting tiny plastics, too.

The research, published today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that both young coral reef fish and open-ocean species are consuming plastic as early as days after they are spawned.

Working in the waters off West Hawaii, an international team of researchers focused on surface slicks — naturally occurring ribbons of smooth water at the ocean surface that are formed when underwater waves converge near coastlines, according to a NOAA news release. These biologically rich ribbons of water aren’t always visible to the eye but are commonly seen, especially if wind conditions are right.

Found in coastal waters around the world, the surface slicks accumulate high concentrations of plankton, a key food source that lures larval fish in huge numbers. These watery nurseries harbor an impressive variety of species from a range of habitats, ranging from the deep ocean waters to shallow-water reefs.

Read the full story at The Honolulu Star Advertiser

Pacific bird refuge struggles as ocean garbage patch grows

November 11, 2019 — Flying into the uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, Midway Atoll appears out of the vast blue Pacific as a tiny oasis of coral-fringed land with pristine white sand beaches that are teeming with life.

But on the ground, there’s a different scene: plastic, pollution and death.

With virtually no predators, Midway is a haven for many species of seabirds and is home to the largest colony of albatross in the world.

But Midway is also at the center of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a vast area of floating plastic collected by circulating oceanic currents. The Hawaiian Islands act like a comb that gathers debris as it floats across the Pacific. A recent analysis found that the patch is accumulating debris at a faster rate than scientists previously thought.

Midway is littered with bird skeletons that have brightly colored plastic protruding from their decomposing bellies. Bottle caps, toothbrushes and cigarette lighters sit in the centers of their feathery carcasses.

Read the full story at the Associated Press

New funding to study microplastic pollution effect on Delaware Bay blue crabs

November 6, 2019 — The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is often held up as the poster child for ocean pollution. And while the collection of trash collecting in the Pacific Ocean certainly deserves attention, researchers at the University of Delaware are concerned about a smaller source of pollution, much smaller.

Through its marine debris program, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is giving the university a $325,000 grant to study the impact of microplastics on blue crab populations near the Delaware Bay. Microplastics are defined as pieces of plastic less than five millimeters in length, or smaller than a pencil eraser. According to NOAA, some microplastics are microbeads, fibers or pellets that come from cosmetics or personal care products, for instance. They can also come from larger pieces of plastic that split apart and break down after exposure to the sun.

It’s estimated that there’s about five trillion tons of marine debris in our oceans and plastics are 90% of that, said UD College of Earth, Ocean and Environment Dean Estella Atekwana. “This grant is really timely so we can advance our understanding of what plastics do to our marine ecosystems,” she said.

Read the full story at WHYY

UD gets NOAA grant to study microplastics in blue crabs

November 5, 2019 — A federal grant will help two University of Delaware researchers look at the impact of microplastics on blue crabs.

The researchers will use the $327,000 grant to examine crab larvae exposure to microplastics in the Delaware Bay.

Microplastics are the size of sesame seeds. Microbeads, a type of microplastics, can easily pass through water filtration systems and end up in lakes and oceans.

Estella Atekwana is dean of the College of Earth, Ocean and Environment. She says they hope to determine how microplastics enter the larvae.

“For us to understand the different exposure pathways where this plastics get into the seafood or marine life and within the food chain and how does this eventually get to humans,” she said. “It’s really early on, I’m not so sure that we truly understand the different pathways.”

Read the full story at Delaware Public Media

Could tiny pieces of plastic in fish become a big problem for humans?

July 30, 2019 — Most of us would agree that plastic waste is a problem.

The sheer amount of plastic thrown away by humans is staggering and easy to see on roadsides, in landfills and oceans.

Plastic bags and water and soda bottles are easily identifiable forms of plastic trash but what happens when those items break down into what are called microplastics?

The short answer is that animals eat these plastic pieces less than five millimeters in size, and a research team at UNCW is studying how contaminants in the plastic might be transferred from prey to black sea bass.

“The goal is to assess how these black sea bass might be impacted by plastic pollution,” said Cheyenne Stienbarger, a masters student at UNCW who is part of the research team. “Black sea bass are a commercially and recreationally important species along the east coast, particularly in North Carolina. We’re really hoping to get a better understanding of how these fish might be impacted.”

Read the full story at WETC

G-20 urges ‘voluntary action’ on marine plastic crisis but fails to agree on common approach

June 18, 2019 — Environment ministers from the Group of 20 on Sunday recognized an urgent need to tackle the marine plastic litter that’s choking the world’s oceans, but failed to agree on concrete measures or targets to phase out single-use plastics.

More than 8 million tons of plastic are dumped into the world’s oceans every year, equivalent to a garbage truck’s worth every minute, and by 2050 there will be more plastic in the oceans by weight than fish, scientists predict.

But agreeing on a common approach to the problem has proved problematic, with the United States blocking demands to set a global target to significantly reduce or phase out single-use plastics.

“Marine litter and especially marine plastic litter and microplastics, is a matter requiring urgent attention given its adverse impacts on marine ecosystems, livelihoods and industries including fisheries, tourism and shipping, and potentially on human health,” environment ministers from the G-20 said on Sunday.

The ministers said they were “determined to drive measures to resolve this issue,” while also noting that “plastics play an important role in our economies and daily lives.”

Read the full story at The Washington Post