▲ The above picture is not directly related to the content of the article. (Whale model made by Greenpeace)
Blue whales, known as the largest living animals on Earth, consume up to 10 million pieces of microplastic per day, a study has found.
On the 1st (local time), AFP and Reuters reported that a research team led by Dr. Shirel Cahein-Lafort of the University of California, USA found that blue whales, blue whales, and humpback whales ingest huge amounts of microplastics every day. was published in the international academic journal 'Nature Communications'.
According to the report, the research team has attached electronic devices with satellite transmitters to the backs of 191 whales, including blue whales, blue whales, and humpbacks, from 2010 to 2019 and followed their feeding activities.
At the same time, microplastic intake was calculated by combining and modeling microplastic data from the Pacific and California currents in which they live.
The results show that blue whales eat up to 10 million microplastics a day.
This amounts to about 43.5 kg, which is equivalent to eating more than 1 billion pieces of microplastics in a year.
"Imagine carrying around 44 kilograms of microplastic in your body," explained Dr. Cahein-Laport. "The blue whale is a very large animal, but even so, 44 kilograms of microplastic takes up a lot of space."
Microplastics are small plastic particles of 5 mm or less that are artificially manufactured or made by finely decomposing plastic marine debris, etc., and the concentration in the ocean has increased in recent decades.
The researchers found that whales feed mostly at depths of 50 to 250 m, where microplastics are dense, which is consistent with the depth of the ocean with the highest concentrations of microplastics.
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▲ A graph explaining the depth of water where whales eat microplastics through krill.
The reason these blue whales are at high risk of exposure to microplastics is because of the way they eat.
Blue whales use filters in their mouths to filter small prey, such as krill, from the seawater.
In this process, the microplastic contained in the food and seawater is eaten together.
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"We found that 99% of microplastics come from food that previously consumed plastics," the research team said. explained.
The fact that whales absorb microplastics through food has implications for humans as well.
Because krill is at the bottom of the food chain pyramid, and humans eat krill-eating anchovies and sardines, the impact of microplastics on the human body cannot be ignored.
"There have been studies that have shown that plastic particles, if too small, can penetrate the intestinal wall and enter organs," said Dr. Kahein-Laport. "Plastic can release chemicals that disrupt the endocrine system." I did.
Based on the results of this study, the research team plans to study how the intake of microplastics affects the health of whales.
(Photo = Greenpeace, provided by Dr. Matthew Saboca's research team at Stanford University, USA, YouTube 'American Museum of Natural History')