Abstract
Marine ecosystems are experiencing substantial disturbances due to climate change and overfishing, and plastic pollution is an additional growing threat. Microfibres are among the most pervasive pollutants in the marine environment, including in the Southern Ocean. However, evidence for microfibre contamination in the diet of top predators in the Southern Ocean is rare. King Penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) feed on mesopelagic fish, which undergo diel vertical migrations towards the surface at night. Microfibres are concentrated in surface waters and sediments but can also be concentrated in fish, therefore acting as contamination vectors for diving predators feeding at depth. In this study, we investigate microfibre contamination of King Penguin faecal samples collected in February and March 2017 at South Georgia across three groups: incubating, chick-rearing and non-breeding birds. After a KOH digestion to dissolve the organic matter and a density separation step using a NaCl solution, the samples were filtered to collect microfibres. A total of 77% of the penguin faecal samples (36 of 47) contained microfibres. Fibres were measured and characterized using Fourier-Transform Infrared spectroscopy to determine their polymeric identity. Most fibres (88%) were made of natural cellulosic materials (e.g. cotton, linen), with only 12% synthetic (e.g. polyester, nylon) or semi-synthetic (e.g. rayon). An average of 21.9 ± 5.8 microfibres g−1 of faeces (lab dried mass) was found, with concentrations more than twice as high in incubating penguins than in penguins rearing chicks. Incubating birds forage further north at the Antarctic Polar Front and travel longer distances from South Georgia than chick-rearing birds. This suggests that long-distance travelling penguins are probably more exposed to the risk of ingesting microfibres when feeding north of the Antarctic Polar Front, which might act as a semi-permeable barrier for microfibres. Microfibres could therefore provide a signature for foraging location in King Penguins.
Highlights
At a time when marine ecosystems are experiencing substantial disturbances (Richardson and Polocsanska, 2008) such as climate change (IPCC, 2007; Brierley and Kingsford, 2009; Doney et al, 2012;IPCC, 2018), overfishing (Jennings and Kaiser, 1998) and species invasions (Elton, 1958; Katsanevakis et al, 2014), plastic pollution has been recognized as another major threat for the ocean
We examined fresh faecal samples collected from King Penguins breeding at South Georgia for microplastics
The only man-made items found in the faecal samples were microfibres, which were present in 77% of the samples (36 out of 47)
Summary
At a time when marine ecosystems are experiencing substantial disturbances (Richardson and Polocsanska, 2008) such as climate change (IPCC, 2007; Brierley and Kingsford, 2009; Doney et al, 2012;IPCC, 2018), overfishing (Jennings and Kaiser, 1998) and species invasions (Elton, 1958; Katsanevakis et al, 2014), plastic pollution has been recognized as another major threat for the ocean. Microplastics (plastic particles < 5 mm, Arthur et al, 2009) are recognized as key components of plastic contamination in marine environments. Most microplastics form from the breakdown of larger plastic items (Gregory and Andrady, 2003; Barnes et al, 2009; Wright et al, 2013), some primary microplastics deriving from textiles, cosmetics, industrial and medical applications can be introduced directly into the ocean as micron-sized particles (Gregory, 1996; Fendall and Sewell, 2009). Microplastics are ubiquitous, occurring in environments from the equator to the poles and from the coast to abyssal sediments (Zarfl and Matthies, 2010; Lusher et al, 2015; Van Cauwenberghe et al, 2015)
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