Plastic debris occurrence, convergence areas and fin whales feeding ground in the Mediterranean Marine Protected Area Pelagos Sanctuary: a modelling approach

摘要

The Mediterranean Sea is greatly affected by marine litter. In this area, researchon the impact of plastic debris (including microplastics) on biota, particularly largefilter-feeding species such as the fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus), is still in itsinfancy. We investigated the possible overlap between microplastic, mesoplastic andmacrolitter accumulation areas and the fin whale feeding grounds in in a pelagic SpeciallyProtected Area of Mediterranean Importance (SPAMI): the Pelagos Sanctuary. Modelsof ocean circulation and fin whale potential habitat were merged to compare marinelitter accumulation with the presence of whales. Additionally, field data on microplastics,mesoplastics, and macrolitter abundance and cetacean presence were simultaneouslycollected. The resulting data were compared, as a multi-layer, with the simulateddistribution of plastic concentration and the whale habitat model. These data showeda high occurrence of microplastics (mean: 0.082 items/m2, STD ± 0.079 items/m2)spatial distribution agreed with our modeling results. Areas with high microplasticdensity significantly overlapped with areas of high macroplastic density. The mostabundant polymer detected in all the sampling sites was polyethylene (PE), suggestingfragmentation of larger packaging items as the primary source. To our knowledge, this isthe first study in the Pelagos Sanctuary in which the simulated microplastic distributionhas been confirmed by field observations. The overlap between the fin whale feedinghabitat and the microplastic hot spots is an important contribution for risk assessmentof fin whale exposure to microplastics.