Microplastic ingestion in Otariids

Transportation of microplastics along the food chain is no surprise. Trophic transfer from prey to predators is a fairly common source of microplastics, especially in top predators. A recently published research by Perez-Venegas et al. (2020) evidenced the ingestion of microplastics in Otariids from the coast of Chile and Peru by analyzing their scats.

Fig. 1. Arctocephalus sp. 

As reported in the study, the occurrence of micro-fibres (ranging from 63 to 100%) was much bigger than fragments (1 to 14%). Higher concentrations in samples from the Juan Fernández Archipielago may be due to the influence of the South Pacific subtropical gyre, an area of high plastic debris concentration. The presence of these particles can potentially be harmful to these animals, although this requires further research.

Reference
Perez-Venegas, D.J., Toro-Valdivieso, C., Ayala, F., Brito, B., Iturra, L., Arriagada, M., Seguel, M., Barrios, C., Sepúlveda, M., Oliva, D., Cárdenas-Alayza, S., Urbina, M.A., Jorquera, A., Castro-Nallar, E., Galbán-Malagón, C., 2020. Monitoring the occurrence of microplastic ingestion in Otariids along the Peruvian and Chilean coasts. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 153, 110966. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.110966