Scientists who once studied microplastics (plastic debris <5 mm in size) as ocean pollutants have now detected them in soils, biota, and Earth’s atmosphere. To decipher the global fate of microplastics, scientists have begun to ask questions about the “microplastic cycle,” which is akin to global biogeochemical cycles (nitrogen, carbon, and water). >> read more […]
A juvenile male sperm whale was found on Luskentyre beach in northwest Scotland over the weekend filled with 220 pounds worth of plastic bags, tubing, gloves, bundles of rope, netting, tubing, and cups. >> read more …
Hoe vang je een met olie besmeurde vogel? En hoe stabiliseer je zo’n slachtoffer? Zo’n dertig hulpverleners waarvan 9 RTZ’ers, volgen vrijdag en zaterdag een training ‘eerste hulp aan olievogels’ bij Vogelopvang De Mikke in Middelburg. Daarbij speelde een roboteend een belangrijke rol. >> lees verder …
Indonesia is the second largest contributor of ocean plastics in the word and a group of researchers decided to study the effects of all that sea plastic on two of the most famous residents of Indonesia’s oceans: the manta ray and whale shark. >> read more …
An oil spill on a river in southeast Bangladesh has threatened the breeding ground of the critically endangered Ganges dolphin, environmentalists said Sunday, describing it as a “major disaster” for the mammal. >> read more …
Bottlenose dolphins in the Channel have been found to carry a “toxic cocktail” of chemicals in their bodies, some of which have been banned for decades and which may be harming the marine mammals’ health, scientists have said. >> read more …
Scientists cruised into Iceland’s remote cold waters to find out why whales are eating so much plastic. >> read more …
Zeedieren eten microplastics doordat ze deze soms aanzien voor voedsel. Wanneer zij op hun beurt worden gegeten, worden onbedoeld ook de microplastics geconsumeerd. Dit proces wordt ‘trofische overdracht’ van microplastics genoemd. Hierdoor kunnen microplastics zich potentieel door de gehele voedselketen verspreiden. >> lees verder …
Iedereen die geregeld op het strand komt, kent de aanspoelsels van paraffine- of palmvet-achtige brokken. Vettige troep, vaak geelbruin of wit, waar vogels en soms honden van eten, en waar toeristen hun kinderen angstvallig bij vandaan houden, want je weet maar nooit. >> lees verder …
Whales in the Gulf of Maine are contaminated with toxic metals in concentrations similar to those seen in industrial workers with decades of exposure. While no one yet knows if the metals are harming the whales, it’s “definitely concerning,” says toxicologist John Pierce Wise Sr., who has spent decades researching carcinogenic metals and marine toxicology. […]
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Norwegian zoologists have found about 30 plastic bags and other plastic waste in the stomach of a beaked whale that had beached on a southwestern Norway coast.Terje Lislevand of the Bergen University says the visibly sick, 2-ton goose-beaked whale was euthanized. >> read more …
De laatste school orka’s die Groot-Brittannië rijk is, zal waarschijnlijk uitsterven. Volgens wetenschappers zijn de vrouwtjes onvruchtbaar geworden door giftige chemicaliën. >> lees verder …