Plastic Waste – Effects on Galapagos Island Marine Species Studied

The abstract of an October 1, 2021 “Science of the Total Environment” article by researchers with UK University of Exeter and Ecuador Galápagos Science Center https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969721027753 reports that “… Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands and their unique biodiversity are a global conservation priority. We explored the presence, composition and environmental drivers of plastic contamination across the marine ecosystem at an island scale, investigated uptake in marine invertebrates and designed a systematic priority scoring analysis to identify the most vulnerable vertebrate species … Microplastics were present in all seven marine invertebrate species examined … confirming uptake of microplastics in the Galapagos marine food web … identified 27 marine vertebrates in need of urgent, targeted monitoring and mitigation including pinnipeds, seabirds, turtles and sharks …” @UniofExeter @GSCGalapagos #PlasticWaste #SingleUsePlastic #Microplastics