#neopelagic — Public Fediverse posts

💁🏻‍♀️ TIL: 🪸🧴 Coastal #invertebrates are colonizing #plastic debris in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, thousands of kilometers from shore.

Reproductive populations were found across 105 debris samples collected between 2018 and 2019. The study suggests plastics are creating a new kind of floating #habitat.

👉 https://www.zmescience.com/science/news-science/coastal-animals-colonize-ocean-plastic/

#garbagepatch #pacific #ocean #pollution #marinebiology #biology #neopelagic #ecosystem #ecology #nature #science

"Our results suggest that the historical lack of available substrate limited the #colonization of the open #ocean by #coastal #species, rather than #physiological or #ecological constraints as previously assumed. It appears that coastal species persist now in the open ocean as a substantial component of a #neopelagic #community sustained by the vast and expanding #sea of #plastic #debris"

#ecology #pollution #Microplastic #sustainability #marinedebris
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-023-01997-y