Microplastics Found in New Zealand Marine Mammals for the First Time w/ Professor Stockin, Dr. Pantos and Dr. Machovsky: November 17, 2021

Massey University recently published an article titled Microplastics revealed in New Zealand marine mammals for the first time, where scientists found microplactsics in all of the New Zealand dolphins they examined. The international team led by Massey University and the Institute of Environmental Science and Research, also known as ESR, discovered that all common dolphins examined post-mortem during 2019 and 2020 had ingested microplastics. 

Zazi spoke with the study’s first author, Professor Karen Stockin, the ESR lead Dr. Olga Pantos as well as co-author Dr. Gabriel Machovsky, about their recent dolphin study. The three researchers talk about microplastics, what they are, how they affect wildlife and human health, as well as explain in more detail what specific things surprised them when conducting their research.