Cetaceans and Marine Debris: The Great Unknown

Table 1

Summary of incidents of ingestion by cetaceans of plastics and other debris reported in Walker and Coe between 1963 and 1986 with notes indicating where ingestion was indicated to be of significance [7].

Species	Number of incidents	Locations	Notes
Sperm whale, Physeter macrocephalus	3	Florence, OR, New Jersey and Newfoundland	One animal of 38 examined from a mass stranding in Oregon had one liter of tightly packed trawl net in its stomach
Dwarf sperm whale, Kogia sima	1	Corolla, NC
Pygmy sperm whale, Kogia breviceps	3	Sullivan’s Island, SC, Galveston, TX, and Brevard Co., Florida	The Texas animal had “pounds of plastic bags clogging its stomach chambers”
Cuvier’s beaked whale, Ziphius cavirostris,	3	San Diego, CA, Assawoman, VA and Seaford, VA
Blainville’s beaked whale, Mesoplodon densirostris	1	East Hampton, NY
Gervais’ beaked whale, Mesoplodon europaeus	2	Hatteras Island, NC and Cape May, NJ	The NJ animal had its stomach full of plastic
Short-finned pilot whale, Globicephala macrorhynchus	1	Corolla, NC
Rough-toothed dolphin, Steno bredanensis	3	Maui, HI and 2 from Sandbridge, VA
Pacific white-sided dolphin, Lagenorhynchus obliquidens	4	Three from Santa Monica, CA, one from Long Beach, CA	The forestomach of the Long Beach animal was half full of four plastic bags, two plastic bottle caps, and various organic materials
Common dolphin, Delphinus delphis	4	Two from Los Angeles County, CA, one from Malibu, CA, and the other from Hermosa Beach, CA	The LA County animal had one partial red balloon ( cm), one piece of clear plastic ( cm), and kelp fronds in its stomach
Bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops truncatus	9	All from the California coastal population—stranded on various CA shores	Along with other organic and plastic debris, three of the animals contained hooks
Risso’s dolphin, Grampus griseus	2	Martha’s Vineyard, MA and Manhattan Beach, CA	The animal from MA was recorded as having a plastic bag in its throat
Striped dolphin, Stenella coeruleoalba	1	Cape Point, NC
Northern right whale dolphin, Lissodelphis borealis	2	Los Angeles County, CA and Santa Monica, CA
Harbour porpoise, Phocoena phocoena.	1	Corolla, NC
Dall’s porpoise, Phocoenoides dalli	3	Venice Beach, CA, and two from Santa Barbara, CA	The Venice Beach animal had its stomach “jammed with debris” including 13 pieces of clear plastic sheet, 3 heavy clear plastic bags, 2 plastic bread bags, and two plastic sandwich bags