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home / 世界杯决赛2022

ubc researchers find microplastics prevalent in galápagos islands penguin prey

microplastics in ‘every colour of the rainbow’ found in samples of prey such as anchovies and milkfish, says ubc researcher karly mcmullen.

by tiffany crawford
published jan 04, 2023
read time 3 minute read
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read time 3 minute read
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close up side shot of microplastics. getty images
researchers at a new ubc hub that focuses on microplastics in the ocean are studying how many of the toxic particles have been found in marine prey in the galápagos islands. “there’s evidence that many marine animals ingest microplastics, either through the water they drink or indirectly through their prey,” said juan josé alava, a marine ecotoxicology and conservation biologist at ubc.
microplastics — pieces of plastic less than five millimetres in size — have been found in prey that animals at the top of the food chain in the galapagos rely on such as zooplankton, anchovies and other fish, said alava.
“our mission is try to understand the global footprint and the microplastic pollution in the oceans,” he said.
alava and his team at ubc’s institute for oceans and fisheries, who are members of the new ubc cluster for microplastics, health and the environment, were in the galápagos islands in 2021 to collect samples of microplastics in the prey that penguins eat.
he said millions of tonnes of plastics end up in the ocean each year. they break down into microplastics, which then move into coastal marine food webs. 
karly mcmullen, an masters student at the institute for the oceans and fisheries, said they are just finishing their research and plan to have it published this year.
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karly mcmullen, masters of science student at ubc’s institute for the oceans and fisheries, in the galápagos islands studying microplastics in marine animals.
karly mcmullen, masters of science student at ubc’s institute for the oceans and fisheries, in the galápagos islands studying microplastics in marine animals. juan josÉ alava / ubc
she said there were various amounts of microplastics in the samples they took from prey items for the penguins such as anchovies and other fish. however, in one sample of milkfish, she said, they found 29 pieces.
“these plastic fibres are about half the thickness of human hair, and there were 29 of them in one individual milkfish. they were in every colour of the rainbow,” mcmullen said.
alava said there are plastic bans in the galapagos, and what their research suggests is that microplastics are drifting into this sensitive and protected ecosystem from all over the world.
“galapagos is a special place. it’s one of the last living laboratory museums in the world. and this is a place for hope because it’s pristine but it’s not immune to the global pollution,” said alava.
“microplastics represent one part of a much bigger problem because we have many stressors on marine life like climate change, overfishing, global mercury and other pollutants.”
he said from what they’ve discovered, they assume that the penguins are consuming a lot of microplastics. this can be harmful to the penguin if they accumulate in the brain or lungs from the blood. he added that a sharp particle could cause inflammation in their stomachs.
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it is very concerning to see the amount of microplastics that the animals are ingesting, said mcmullen, adding that the galapagos is an incredible place for biodiversity.
“it really is a place where the animals rule. it’s their world and all the people protect them. if a sea lion is in front of a shop, the shop owners will close off the area,” said mcmullen.
“this one-time i saw three stingrays go by, and then we saw a sea turtle and moments later a penguin. just after, a sea lion came right up to us to look at what we were doing. it feels like a time before human beings.”
penguins in the galápagos islands.
penguins in the galápagos islands. karly mcmullen / ubc
funding for the galapagos research comes from the nippon foundation for the ocean pollution research unit at the institute for the ocean and fisheries (https://oceanpollution.oceans.ubc.ca/) in collaboration with evgeny pakhomov (marine zooplankton and micronekton laboratory).
ticrawford@postmedia.com

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