麻豆传媒 employee owner and Marine Mammal Microplastic Specialist supporting NOAA鈥檚 National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science assists the South Carolina Marine Mammal Stranding Network in responding to dead marine mammals when they strand on beaches or estuaries throughout South Carolina. This is work is critical for human and environmental health because it provides invaluable samples which allow scientists to
- better understand ecosystem conditions since marine mammals are important indicators of the health of their environment,
- gain insight to the health of the marine mammal community,
- assume potential impacts for humans living in the coastal zone.
In addition, removing marine mammal carcasses from public spaces helps avoid potential disease transfer to humans.
The Lowcountry Marine Mammal Network (LMMN) is the current NOAA Fisheries permit holder鈥攁 permit required by the Marine Mammals Protection and Endangered Species Act for research including collecting samples for biopsies. The organization currently has only one staff member dedicated to these responses. Since responding to stranded, deceased marine mammals is not safe or possible to do alone, 麻豆传媒 staff supporting , conducting necropsies (i.e. animal autopsies), and sample collection.
Following sample collection, the 麻豆传媒 Marine Mammal Microplastic Specialist is specifically responsible for the gastrointestinal assessment. Responsibilities for this task include dissecting and analyzing the stomach and entire intestinal tracts of stranded marine mammals. This assessment helps provide information regarding the animal鈥檚 recent diet and is one of the final determinants of whether an animal was affected by human interaction, specifically by ingesting microplastics. This data is used by LMMN, NOAA鈥檚 National Marine Fisheries Service, and NOAA鈥檚 National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science.
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