i thought that i was dreaming

FOR THE FIRST TIME, RESEARCHERS REPORT MICROPLASTIC INGESTED BY AMAZON FISHES

These findings provide the first evidence of microplastic contamination in fishes from the Amazon estuary and northern coast of Brazil. Researchers analized fishes from bycatch of the shrimp fishery, the found microplastics occurred in 13.7% of 14 fish species from the Amazon River estuary. Researchers also found microplastic pelletes represented 97.4% of microplastics ingested. The researcher team say that as more is investigated, the list of freshwater animals affected by microplastics could increase considerably.

- Some microplastic items found in guts of freshwater fishes (a) blue thread (polyethylene); (b) yellow fragment (polyethylene); © transparent sheet (rayon) and common pelletes (d and e).

Several investigations of marine organims have found that microfibers are the most commonly ingested microplastic particles. But in that zone, plastic pellets comprised over 97% of the microplastics recovered from fish gastrointestinal tracts. Fishes  from the Brazil’s northeastern coast near the city of Salvador had exclusively ingested pellets. This region is home to the largest petrochemical complex in Latin America, which could contribute to plastic pollution of rivers and coastal habitats. 

Image: Gafftopsail sea catfish (Bagre marinus), the frequency of occurrence of microplastics in this species was 100%.

Reference: Souza e Silva Pegado. et al., 2018. First evidence of microplastic ingestion by fishes from the Amazon River estuary. Marine Pollution Bulletin.

Back in May, Mark wrote about a Kickstarter project to fund a mobile app that will help you locate the hidden entrances to Malibu’s public beaches, which the local rich and famous people have done everything they can to obscure (including putting up illegal fake signs that falsely declare passage to be trespassing).

The Kickstarter was fully funded and the app is out, and the public is finding its way to Malibu’s public beaches, which is great news – unless you’re one of those people who’s spent decades treating a public beach as your own private patch. Local residents are pissed:

“Untitled”

36in x 48in, Charcoal on paper (2017)