Tracking Microplastics Found in Seals

Microplastics have been found in the bodies of Bering Strait spotted seals, reports Alaska Public Media.

A University of Alaska Fairbanks graduate student found microplastics in the stomachs of spotted seals harvested in the Bering Strait region. Of 29 stomachs that Alexandria Sletten examined, all but one held tiny bits of plastic. In all, there were 162 pieces recovered, 161 of which were fiber bits and one that was a clear fragment.

Sletten presented her results at a poster session at last weeks Alaska Marine Science Symposium held in Anchorage.

Sletten’s sorting revealed no significant difference separating the 2012 seals from those harvested in 2020, which went contrary to her expectation that amounts of microplastics would increase over time.

“I’m finding that it’s been there and it’s always been there” over those years, she said.