Excerpt:
The findings raise real concern among scientists over the growing pressures faced by reef manta rays – a filter feeding species – now at growing risk of ingesting microplastics and suffering the, as yet, not-fully-determined physical consequences.

“Shockingly high” levels of plastic contamination have been discovered in some of the most remote parts of the Chagos Marine Protected Areas – raising fears among scientists over the region’s population of reef manta rays for which Chagos has been designated a global safe haven and important feeding area.

Micro-plastics and micro-fibres linked to man made, clothing-related polymers such as polyester found in the area surpass those found in more densely populated regions such as Indonesia, with plastic concentrations reaching as critical level as 1.1 particles per cubic metre.

Published late last month in the scientific journal The Society for Conservation Biology, the study has since drawn direct attention to the scale of the micro-plastic and micro-fibre crisis, indicating that even remote marine areas are not safe from being contaminated by microplastics carried across large distances from their suspected source. 

On top of this, the findings now raise real concern over the growing pressures being faced by populations of reef manta rays – a species that eats plankton by a process known as filter feeding – now at growing risk of ingesting microplastics and suffering the, as yet, not-fully-determined physical consequences.

As filter feeders, long-term exposure to plastic ingestion not only increases exposure of manta rays to harmful chemicals associated with things such as reduced fertility and immune responses, but it also puts the species at the real risk of clogging their filtering systems.

“We mainly found black and blue fibres, and over half of the particle were found to be synthetic, including polyester, polypropylene, and nylon which are all microfibres that tend to originate from clothing,” said Dr Jessica Savage, the lead author on the study and researcher with Zoological Society London.

“While protected areas are created to protect an endangered species like the reef manta rays from things like fishing and other anthropogenic impacts, plastic – due to it drifting across country boundaries and certainly across the boundaries of protected areas, is a pervasive and systemic issue that needs global action to address…”