Study finds Sarasota Bay dolphins ingest about 10,000 microplastics daily; unknown if harmful

Dolphins swimming in Sarasota Bay; the mammals ingest thousands of microplastics most likely when eating, hunting prey(Sarasota Dolphin Research Program|NMFS Research Permit 20455 / WGCU)When dolphins splash about to corral baitfish in the shallows of Sarasota Bay, the result isn't just a few pinfish or toadfish in their stomachs — they also ingest some of the roughly 10,000 microplastics daily, researchers have concluded. "Microplastics and plasticizers in these animals and their ecosystems has begun to raise concerns about threats to them," Randy Wells, then-director of the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program wrote with other researchers in a paper published this summer in the journal Marine Mammal Science. "Our results clearly indicate (the) predominant microplastic contamination present in Sarasota Bay." Microplastics can make dolphins feel full when they are still in need of nourishment, scratch or damage the inside of their digestive tract, and cause inflammation and cell damage. S