anna_lillith 🇺🇦🌱🐖Sep 10, 2023

WITH NO SEAGRASS IN SIGHT, MANATEES ARE EATING PLASTIC

The last thing Florida's manatees need is another threat to their survival.

Already, they're dying in record numbers as the loss of their main food source, seagrass, takes a heavy toll. Now, researchers have uncovered a new threat: plastic pollution. More than three-quarters of the manatees studied had some type of plastic in their digestive tracts.

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https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2023.1143310/full

Microplastics in large marine herbivores: Florida manatees (Trichechus manatus latirostris) in Tampa Bay

Although there is growing concern about ingestion of microplastics by marine organisms, little research has been conducted on marine herbivores. This is the first study to document microplastic ingestion within the family Sirenia. Subsamples were collected from five locations in the gastrointestinal tracts (GI) of 26 dead manatees (Trichechus manatus latirostris) from Tampa Bay, Florida. During gross necropsies, macroplastic pieces were found in seven individuals (26.9%). Careful visual examination of the subsampled portions of the GI contents indicated that 19 individuals (73.1%) contained plastic particles. As five individuals had both macro and microplastic pieces, the overall frequency of occurrence of plastic ingestion was 76.9%. Due to the large volume of cellulose-rich ingested material, it was not feasible to analyze the entire gut contents, nor was it feasible to conduct chemical or enzymatic digestion; therefore, it is very likely that many microplastic pieces were not detected. Despite these technical challenges, it is clear that manatees in Tampa Bay are routinely consuming microplastics in addition to larger plastic pieces. Currently, nothing is known about the physiological effects of microplastic ingestion in sirenians, however environmental plastics could be concentrated by manatees through ingestion and the subsequent production of microplastics-laden feces.

Frontiers
Show threadanna_lillith 🇺🇦🌱🐖

Once swallowed, plastic can't be digested like food. Instead, it can block an animal's digestive tract, leading them to starve with a belly full of plastic. The manatees studied had eaten plastic bags, plastic fishing line, microplastics and more.

Manatees are already reeling from the last terrible two years. Nearly 2,000 have died as the once-lush seagrass beds that fed them have been choked out by massive algal blooms fueled by pollution.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/25/manatee-deaths-florida-endangered-status

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Alarming manatee death toll in Florida prompts calls for endangered status

Mammals were downgraded from endangered to threatened in 2017, even as pollution and habitat loss drive starvation

The Guardian
Sep 10, 2023 at 8:29amWeb
Show threadanna_lillith 🇺🇦🌱🐖Sep 10, 2023

Now we know these gentle sea cows are finding plastic where they once foraged for seagrass.

Around the globe, we're dumping the equivalent of a garbage truck's worth of plastic into the ocean every single minute. All of this plastic pollution is practically unavoidable for manatees and other sea life -- and it's up to us to help them.

- Environment Oregon

#PlasticPollution #PlasticKills #SaveOurSeas #ProtectOurWildlife 🌊

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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/dec/01/deluge-of-plastic-waste-us-is-worlds-biggest-plastic-polluter

‘Deluge of plastic waste’: US is world’s biggest plastic polluter

At 42m metric tons of plastic waste a year, the US generates more waste than all EU countries combined

The Guardian
Show threadGatekeeper..Sep 23, 2023
@anna_lillith Billionaire....
The algae is the cause of Rick Scott allowing The Sugar companies to dump into the lake.