A team of researchers from Australia, the U.S., Indonesia and New Zealand has measured the amount of plastics that manta rays and whale sharks are ingesting off the coast of Indonesia. In their paper published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science, the group describes how they measured the ingestion of plastics by the marine animals. There is a large amount of plastic in the ocean due to a variety of human activities. In recent years, scientists have been trying to better understand the impacts of the plastic on marine life. In this new effort, the researchers focused on manta rays and whale sharks, and plastics in the ocean off the coast of parts of Indonesia.
The work began after one of the team members went swimming off the coast of Indonesia and found the waters teeming with plastics. Curious about the impact of so much plastic on marine creatures that sift plankton for their survival, they undertook a study to learn more.
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