Plastic, It’s What’s for Dinner: A Preliminary Comparison of Ingested Particles in Bottlenose Dolphins and Their Prey
Author:
Hart Leslie B.12ORCID, Dziobak Miranda13, Wells Randall S.4ORCID, Berens McCabe Elizabeth4, Conger Eric5, Curtin Tita1, Knight Maggie6, Weinstein John7
Affiliation:
1. Department of Health and Human Performance, School of Health Sciences, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC 29424, USA 2. Center for Coastal Environmental and Human Health, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC 29424, USA 3. Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA 4. Chicago Zoological Society’s Sarasota Dolphin Research Program, c/o Mote Marine Laboratory, Sarasota, FL 34236, USA 5. Department of Biology, School of Sciences, Mathematics, and Engineering, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC 29424, USA 6. Graduate Program in Marine Biology, Grice Marine Laboratory, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC 29424, USA 7. Department of Biology, The Citadel, Charleston, SC 29409, USA
Abstract
Microplastic ingestion was reported for common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) inhabiting Sarasota Bay, FL, USA, a community that also has prevalent exposure to plasticizers (i.e., phthalates) at concentrations higher than human reference populations. Exposure sources are currently unknown, but plastic-contaminated prey could be a vector. To explore the potential for trophic exposure, prey fish muscle and gastrointestinal tract (GIT) tissues and contents were screened for suspected microplastics, and particle properties (e.g., color, shape, surface texture) were compared with those observed in gastric samples from free-ranging dolphins. Twenty-nine fish across four species (hardhead catfish, Ariopsis felis; pigfish, Orthopristis chrysoptera; pinfish, Lagodon rhomboides; and Gulf toadfish, Opsanus beta) were collected from Sarasota Bay during September 2022. Overall, 97% of fish (n = 28) had suspected microplastics, and GIT abundance was higher than muscle. Fish and dolphin samples contained fibers and films; however, foams were common in dolphin samples and not observed in fish. Suspected tire wear particles (TWPs) were not in dolphin samples, but 23.1% and 32.0% of fish muscle and GIT samples, respectively, contained at least one suspected TWP. While some similarities in particles were shared between dolphins and fish, small sample sizes and incongruent findings for foams and TWPs suggest further investigation is warranted to understand trophic transfer potential.
Funder
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences of the National Institutes of Health Dolphin Quest, Inc. Charles and Margery Barancik Foundation
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