Researchers find a face mask and plastics inside a stranded dolphin in Tenerife

Researchers from the Institute of Animal Health and Food Safety (IUSA) at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC) have found a medical face mask and numerous plastics inside a dolphin that died when stranded on the coast of Arico in Tenerife.

According to a press release from the institution, the researchers who performed the necropsy on the mammal, a female common dolphin (Delphinus Delphis), also found other residues such as fishing lines, textile threads, rope fibres, and plastic bags that were lodged in her main stomach.

The ULPGC has highlighted that this finding highlights the problem posed by the presence of rubbish and waste in the seas around our islands, mainly plastic materials, which have a great impact on our marine environment.

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 type of waste materials in 7.74% of the cetaceans studied between 2000 and 2016. These residues were responsible for the death of 2.8% of the marine creatures studied.