Blue Whales Eat 10 Million Pieces Of Microplastic Daily: Report

As Earth's largest animals, blue whales are mighty big eaters, gulping tons of food each day. They also now are ingesting huge amounts of plastic, according to scientists, due to the alarming volume...

As the largest animals on Earth, blue whales are mighty food eaters, eating tons of food every day. And according to scientists, they also eat huge amounts of plastic, due to the alarming amount of tiny pollution particles choking the oceans.

Researchers Tuesday presented an estimate of the amount of microplastics ingested by three species of baleen whales -- blue, fin and humpback -- off the US Pacific coast, detailing a problem that raises uncertain health concerns for this marine mammal.

Like baleen whales, these species are filter feeders. straining food - prawns -

Like crustaceans called krill and other small prey - from seawater using palin plates in the mouth made of keratin, the substance in people's nails.

According to the study, blue whales may ingest approximately 10 million microplastics per day, or up to 95 pounds (43.5 kg) of plastic. For fin whales,

whose main prey is krill, the daily number is estimated to be around 6 million microplastics, or up to 57 pounds of plastic.

Some humpback whales specialize in krill and others prefer to eat small fish. According to the study, humpbacks that prefer krill may ingest about 4 million microplastics (up to 38 pounds of plastic) per day,

While those who prefer fish may take a much smaller amount, around 200,000 pieces (up to a few pounds of plastic).

"In moderately polluted waters off the west coast of the United States, baleen whales may still ingest millions of microplastics and microfibers every day," said Stanford University marine biologist Matthew Savoca.

Author of the study published in Nature Communications.

Savoca added: "We also found that the vast majority - 99% -

They are transmitted by their prey that has previously ingested the plastic and not by the water that has filtered it."

The study demonstrated how baleen whales may be at high risk of ingesting microplastics due to the way they feed, how much they eat, and how their environment interferes with polluted areas such as the California Current, which flows southward along western North America. coast.

Blue whales can reach a maximum length of about 100 feet (30 m), fin whales about 80 feet (24 m) and humpback whales about 50 feet (15 m).

The researchers estimated daily microplastic ingestion by examining the foraging behavior of 126 blue whales,

65 humpback and 29 fin whales using measurements from electronic tag devices suctioned to the animal's back, complete with a camera, microphone, GPS locator and motion-tracking tool. Then they took into account the concentrations of microplastics in the California stream.

A study published last year based on the same whales off the west coast of the United States showed that blue whales eat about 10-20 tons of krill per day, fin whales eat 6-12 tons of krill, and humpback whales eat 5-10 tons of krill . Or 2-3 tons of fish.

The new study found that whales feed mainly at 165-deep depth.

820 feet (50-250 meters),

coinciding with the highest concentrations of microplastics measured in the open ocean ecosystem.

Microplastics are particles of plastic debris - less than 5 mm (0.2 in) in length - that arise from the disposal and decomposition of various consumer products and industrial waste, with their concentrations in the oceans increasing in recent decades.

The potential health effects on whales from eating it are not well understood.

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