Researchers from the Institute of Animal Health and Food Safety (IUSA) of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC) have found a mask and numerous plastics inside a dolphin stranded last March on the coast of Arico (Tenerife).
According to the educational institution, in addition, the professionals who performed the necropsy on the animal – a female common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) – found other waste such as disposable boots, fishing lines, textile threads, ropes and plastic bags that were housed in your main stomach.
The ULPGC has highlighted that this finding highlights the problem posed by the presence of rubbish and waste in the marine environment, mainly plastic materials, which have a great impact on marine species.
In this regard, previous studies carried out by the IUSA have revealed the scope of this problem in cetaceans stranded in the Canary Islands, demonstrating the presence of this litter in 7.74% of the cetaceans studied between 2000 and 2016.
Thus, these residues were responsible for the cause of death of the animal in 2.8% of the animals studied.
