Dear Marmam and ECS members, (sorry for crossposting!)
on behalf of my coauthors, I am pleased to inform you on the publication of the following paper in Marine Pollution Bulletin: Alexiadou, P., Foskolos, I., Frantzis, A., 2019. Ingestion of macroplastics by odontocetes of the Greek Seas, Eastern Mediterranean: Often deadly! Mar. Pollut. Bull. 146, 67-75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.05.055 Highlights • At least half the cetacean species regularly found in Greece ingest macroplastics. • 60% of sperm whales in the Greek Seas have macroplastics in their stomach. • Macroplastic ingestion by odontocetes can be often lethal due to gastric blockage. • A standardised approach is needed to evaluate the threat of plastic to cetaceans. Abstract Plastic pollution is an omnipresent problem that threatens marine animals through ingestion and entanglement. Marine mammals are no exception to this rule but their interaction with plastic remains understudied in the Mediterranean Sea. Here we highlight this problem by analyzing the stomach contents of 34 individuals from seven odontocete species stranded in Greece. Macroplastics (>5 mm) were found in the stomachs of nine individuals from four species (harbour porpoise Phocoena phocoena, Risso's dolphin Grampus griseus, Cuvier's beaked whale Ziphius cavirostris and sperm whale Physeter macrocephalus) with the highest frequency of occurrence in sperm whales (60%). Gastric blockage from plastic was presumably lethal in three cases, with plastic bags being the most common finding (46%). Plastic ingestion is of particular conservation concern for the endangered Mediterranean sperm whales. A regular examination of stranded cetaceans with a standardised protocol is critical for allowing spatiotemporal comparisons within and across species. Although this is not an Open Access paper, it is freely accessible online until the 26th of July at: https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1ZB9i,ashtxqc If you have any problems with the above link or any questions, please feel free to contact me directly for a PDF copy at [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>. Best wishes, Ilias Ilias Foskolos, PhD Fellow Marine Bioacoustics Lab<http://www.marinebioacoustics.com/> Zoophysiology, Dept. Bioscience Aarhus University C.F. Møllers Allé 3, Building 1131 DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark E-mail: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> ResearchGate<https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ilias_Foskolos3> Twitter: theclickitclick<https://twitter.com/theclickitclick> Phone: (+30) 6996260927
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