TABLE 2 |.
Microplastic Presence in the Gastrointestinal Tract of 15 Cetacean and two Pinniped Species (in grey).
| Location | Species | n | Microplastics/ Individual | Size | Shape | Color | Polymer type | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| ||||||||
| Pacific Ocean (China) | Neophocaena asiaeorientalis sunameri | 7 | 19.1 ± 7.2 | NA | Fibers (70.1%). Sheets (14.9%), fragments (13.4%), and foam (1.5%) | Most were blue. Red, transparent, yellow, green | Most abundant: PP. Others found: PE, PA, PS, PC, and PET | Xiong et al. (2018) |
| Sousa chinensis | 3 | 2 adults (total 30 and 45)a and the calf (2) | Average size 2.2 mm ± 0.4 (0.1 to 4.8 mm) | Fibers (70.3%). Fragments and flakes were also found | Most were white and blue | Most abundant: PES, Others found: PP, CL, PE, PA and PBT. | Zhu et al. (2019) | |
| Arctic Ocean (Canada) | Delphinapterus leucas | 7 | 11.6 ± 6.6 (total 97 ± 47)a | Size range 0–5 mm >1 mm most abundant | Fibers (49%) and fragments (51%) | NA | Most abundant: 44% PET (85% fibers). Others found: PVC, PO, PA, acrylic, PP, PS, PE. | Moore et al. (2020) |
| Atlantic Ocean (Netherland, Spain, Ireland, Scotland, England, Wales) | Megaptera novaeangliae | 1 | 6 (total 167)a | Average size 1.1–4.7 mm by 0.4–2.4 mm | Sheets and fragments were found. Fibers not counted due to lack of blanks | NA | Most abundant: PE, PA. Others found: PP, PVC and PET. | Besseling et al. (2015) |
| Delphinus delphis | 35 | 12 ± 8 (range 3 to 41) | Fibers 2.11 ± 1.26 mm. Fragments 1.29 ± 0.93 mm. Beads 0.95 mm | Fibers (96.59%), fragments (3.16%), beads (0.24%) | Blue (45.26%), black (24.57%), green (15.58%), red (14.36%) | NA | Hernandez-Gonzalez., et al. (2018) | |
| Ziphius cavirostris | 1 | 53 | Most abundant sizes 1 to 5 mm. Size range 0.3 to 16.7 mm | Fibers (83.6%) and fragments (16.4%) | Blue (29.2%), grey (18.2%), black (16.8%) and orange (15.05%) | NA | Lusher et al. (2018) | |
| Delphinus delphis | 9 | 36.25 ± 19.36b | ||||||
| (4)+ | ||||||||
| Stenella coeruleoalba | 2 | 44.5 ± 16.26b | ||||||
| Phocoena | 5 | 33 ± 23.07b | ||||||
| phocoena | (3)+ | |||||||
| Orcinus orca | 1 | 39 | ||||||
| Tursiops truncatus | 2 | 35 ± 21.92b | ||||||
| (1)+ | ||||||||
| Mesoplodon mirus | 1 | 88 | Mean length 2.16 mm ± 1.39 (0.3 to 7 mm) | Most were fibers and fragments. Film was also found | NA | Most abundant: Rayon (53%) Others found: PET, acrylic, PP, PE. | Lusher et al. (2015) | |
| Phocoena phocoena | 21 | 5.23 ± 2.53b | Average fiber size 2 mm ± 2.3 mm (2 cm to 0.1 mm). Average fragments size 0.9 mm ± 1.1 (4 × 2 mm to 100 × 100 um) | Fibers (84%) and fragments (16%) | Most were blue (42.5%), black (26.4%), clear (12.8%) | Most abundant: Nylon 60%. Others found: PE, PET, PES, phenoxy resin, PE, PP and rayon, PA and LDPE. | Nelms et al. (2019) | |
| Stenella coeruleoalba | 1 | 7 | ||||||
| Tursiops truncatus | 1 | 6 | ||||||
| Delphinus delphis | 16 | 5.69 ± 3.34b | ||||||
| Grampus griseus | 1 | 9 | ||||||
| Kogia breviceps | 1 | 4 | ||||||
| Lagenorhynchus albirostris | 1 | 3 | ||||||
| Lagenorhynchus acutus | 1 | 8 | ||||||
| Phoca vitulina | 4 | 4.25 ± 2.5b | ||||||
| Halichoerus | 3 | 6 ± 2b | ||||||
| Halichoerus grypus | 13 | 27.9 ± 14.7 | NA | Fibers (86%), fragments (14%) and films (1%) | NA | NA | Hernandez-Millan et al. (2019) | |
a
estimated from the analysis of a section. Abbreviations: Polyethylene PE, Low density polyethylene LDPE, Ethylene propylene EP, Polyester PET, Polyacrylamide PAM, Polypropylene PP, Polystyrene PS, Polyamide (nylon) PA, Polycarbonate PC, Polybutylene terephthalate PBT, Polyvinyl chloride PVC, Polyether sulfone PES, Cellulose CL, Polyolefin PO.
b
average calculated from supplementary data; + number individual where intestines were analyzed.