Anthropogenic debris in three sympatric seal species of the Western Antarctic Peninsula.

Autor: Cebuhar JD; Laboratório de Ecologia e Conservação da Megafauna Marinha, Instituto de Oceanografia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande-FURG, Av. Itália Km 8 s/n, Rio Grande, Brazil; Programa de Pós-Graduação em Oceanografia Biológica, Instituto de Oceanografia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande-FURG, Rio Grande, Brazil. Electronic address: jucebuhar@gmail.com., Negrete J; Laboratório de Predadores Tope, Instituto Antártico Argentino, Av. 25 de Mayo 1147, Villa Lynch, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Calle 64 N° 3, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata 1900, Argentina; Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas Y Técnicas (CONICET), Godoy Cruz, 2290, C1425FQB, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina., Rodríguez Pirani LS; CEQUINOR (UNLP, CCT-CONICET La Plata, associated with CIC), Departamento de Química, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Blvd. 120 N° 1465, La Plata 1900, Argentina., Picone AL; CEQUINOR (UNLP, CCT-CONICET La Plata, associated with CIC), Departamento de Química, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Blvd. 120 N° 1465, La Plata 1900, Argentina., Proietti M; Laboratório de Ecologia Molecular Marinha and Projeto Lixo Marinho, Instituto de Oceanografia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande-FURG, Av. Itália Km 8 s/n, Rio Grande, Brasil Rio Grande, Brazil; The Ocean Cleanup, Rotterdam, Netherlands., Romano RM; CEQUINOR (UNLP, CCT-CONICET La Plata, associated with CIC), Departamento de Química, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Blvd. 120 N° 1465, La Plata 1900, Argentina., Della Védova CO; CEQUINOR (UNLP, CCT-CONICET La Plata, associated with CIC), Departamento de Química, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Blvd. 120 N° 1465, La Plata 1900, Argentina., Casaux R; Centro de Investigación Esquel de Montaña y Estepa Patagónica (CIEMEP), Roca 780, 9200 Esquel, Chubut, Argentina., Secchi ER; Laboratório de Ecologia e Conservação da Megafauna Marinha, Instituto de Oceanografia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande-FURG, Av. Itália Km 8 s/n, Rio Grande, Brazil., Botta S; Laboratório de Ecologia e Conservação da Megafauna Marinha, Instituto de Oceanografia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande-FURG, Av. Itália Km 8 s/n, Rio Grande, Brazil.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: The Science of the total environment [Sci Total Environ] 2024 Apr 20; Vol. 922, pp. 171273. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Feb 24.
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.171273
Abstrakt: Litter pollution is a growing concern, including for Antarctica and the species that inhabit this ecosystem. In this study, we investigated the microplastic contamination in three seal species that inhabit the Western Antarctic Peninsula: crabeater (Lobodon carcinophaga), leopard (Hydrurga leptonyx) and Weddell (Leptonychotes weddellii) seals. Given the worldwide ubiquity of this type of contaminant, including the Southern Ocean, we hypothesized that the three seal species would present anthropogenic debris in their feces. We examined 29 scat samples of crabeater (n = 5), leopard (n = 13) and Weddell (n = 11) seals. The chemical composition of the items found were identified using micro-Raman and micro-FTIR spectroscopies. All the samples of the three species presented anthropic particles (frequency of occurrence - %FO - 100 %). Fibers were the predominant debris, but fragments and filaments were also present. Particles smaller than 5 mm (micro debris) were predominant in all the samples. Leopard seals ingested significantly larger micro-debris in comparison with the other seal species. The dominant color was black followed by blue and white. Micro-Raman and micro-FTIR Spectroscopies revealed the presence of different anthropogenic pigments such as reactive blue 238, Indigo 3600 and copper phthalocyanine (blue and green). Carbon black was also detected in the samples, as well as plastic polymers such as polystyrene, polyester and polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyamide, polypropylene and polyurethane These results confirm the presence of anthropogenic contamination in Antarctic seals and highlight the need for actions to mitigate the effects and reduce the contribution of debris in the Antarctic ecosystem.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Julieta Denise Cebuhar reports financial support was provided by Society for Marine Mammalogy. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
(Published by Elsevier B.V.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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