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Resource ID
10764
Access
Open
Full Title
Marine litter: One of the major threats for marine mammals. Outcomes from the European Cetacean Society workshop. Environmental Pollution 247 (2019) pp.72-79
Author
Cristina Panti, Matteo Baini, Amy Lusher, Gema Hernandez-Milan, Elisa L. Bravo Rebolledo, Bianca Unger, Kristian Syberg, Mark P. Simmonds and Maria Cristina Fossi
Abstract
Marine litter is a pollution problem affecting thousands of marine species in all the world's seas and
oceans. Marine litter, in particular plastic, has negative impacts on marine wildlife primarily due to
ingestion and entanglement. Since most marine mammal species negatively interact with marine litter, a
first workshop under the framework of the European Cetacean Society Conference, was held in 2017 to
bring together the main experts on the topic of marine mammals and marine litter from academic and
research institutes, non-governmental organisations, foundations and International Agreements. The
workshop was devoted to defining the impact of marine litter on marine mammals by reviewing current
knowledge, methodological advances and new data available on this emerging issue. Some case studies
were also presented from European waters, such as seals and cetaceans in the North, Baltic, and Mediterranean
Seas. Here, we report the main findings of the workshop, including a discussion on the
research needs, the main methodological gaps, an overview of new techniques for detecting the effects of
marine litter (including microplastics) on marine mammals and, also, the use of citizen science to drive
awareness. The final recommendations aim to establish priority research, to define harmonised methods
to detect marine litter and microplastics, enforce networking among institutions and support data
sharing. The information gathered will enhance awareness and communication between scientists,
young people, citizens, other stakeholders and policy makers, and thereby facilitate better implementation
of international directives (e.g., the Marine Strategy Framework Directive) in order to answer
the question about the actual status of our oceans and finding solutions.