Spotted seals in some of the most remote marine areas around Alaska are consuming significant amounts of microplastics in their diets, according to a new University of Alaska Fairbanks–led study.
Spotted seals in some of the most remote marine areas around Alaska are consuming significant amounts of microplastics in their diets, according to a new University of Alaska Fairbanks–led study.
The paper, published in the current issue of Marine Pollution Bulletin, analyzed the stomach contents of spotted seals harvested by subsistence hunters in the Bering and Chukchi seas. Of the 34 seal stomachs that were examined, only one had contents that were free of microplastics.
The study focused on specimens from 2012 and 2020 that were harvested in the Alaska communities of Gambell and Shishmaref. A total of 190 microplastics were found in the seal stomachs, appearing in concentrations that did not vary by age, location or the year they were harvested.
Read More: University of Alaska Fairbanks
A spotted seal rests on sea ice. (Photo Credit: NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center)
