Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

This site is currently in beta, and your feedback is helping shape its ongoing development.

Microplastics in the gastrointestinal tracts of cetaceans from the United States (NCEI Accession 0209240)

Published by NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce | Metadata Last Checked: January 29, 2026 | Last Modified: 2020-07-31T00:00:00.000+00:00
This dataset contains microplastics (MPs, 1 µm-5 mm) enumerated from the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) of bottlenose dolphins stranded in South Carolina, USA from 2017-2018 (initial study), and from stranded bottlenose dolphins (South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama), harbor porpoises (Maine and Washington), and a long-beaked common dolphin (Washington) from 2013-2019 (second study). Microplastics were counted in the GIT and were categorized by microplastic type and color. Individual dolphins and porpoises total length, sex, and stomach weight data are also included.

Find Related Datasets

Click any tag below to search for similar datasets

0209240 biological data cetacean STOMACH CONTENTS STOMACH CONTENTS - CONTENT WEIGHT microscope scale in situ laboratory analyses Coastal Carolina University NOAA Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research Coastal Waters of Alabama Coastal Waters of Southeast Alaska and British Columbia Gulf of Mexico North Atlantic Ocean North Pacific Ocean Southwest Atlantic Ocean (limit-20 W) oceanography DOC/NOAA/NOS/NCCOS/CCEHBR > Center For Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research, National Centers For Coastal Ocean Science, National Ocean Service, NOAA, U.S. Department Of Commerce Coastal Marine Mammal Assessments Program EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION > ANIMALS/VERTEBRATES > MAMMALS > CETACEANS Delphinus capensis Harbor porpoises Long-beaked common dolphin Phocoena phocoena Tursiops truncatus bottlenose dolphin cetaceans marine mammal strandings microplastic stomach weight MICROSCOPES > MICROSCOPES stereomicroscope OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN > NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN > NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN > GULF OF AMERICA OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN > NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN > GULF OF MEXICO OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN > SOUTH ATLANTIC OCEAN OCEAN > PACIFIC OCEAN > NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN Waters of Maine Waters of North Carolina Waters of South Carolina Waters of Washington 33BGLJ

Complete Metadata
@type dcat:Dataset
accessLevel non-public
contactPoint 
                                            {
  "fn": "NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information",
  "@type": "vcard:Contact",
  "hasEmail": "mailto:ncei.info@noaa.gov"
}
describedByType application/octet-steam
description This dataset contains microplastics (MPs, 1 µm-5 mm) enumerated from the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) of bottlenose dolphins stranded in South Carolina, USA from 2017-2018 (initial study), and from stranded bottlenose dolphins (South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama), harbor porpoises (Maine and Washington), and a long-beaked common dolphin (Washington) from 2013-2019 (second study). Microplastics were counted in the GIT and were categorized by microplastic type and color. Individual dolphins and porpoises total length, sex, and stomach weight data are also included.
distribution 
                                            [
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "NCEI Dataset Landing Page",
    "mediaType": "placeholder/value",
    "description": "Navigate directly to the URL for a descriptive web page with download links.",
    "downloadURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0209240",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-steam"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "Descriptive Information",
    "mediaType": "placeholder/value",
    "description": "Navigate directly to the URL for a descriptive web page with download links.",
    "downloadURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/oas/209240",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-steam"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "HTTPS",
    "mediaType": "placeholder/value",
    "description": "Navigate directly to the URL for data access and direct download.",
    "downloadURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/download/209240",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-steam"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "FTP",
    "mediaType": "placeholder/value",
    "description": "These data are available through the File Transfer Protocol (FTP). FTP is no longer supported by most internet browsers. You may copy and paste the FTP link to the data into an FTP client (e.g., FileZilla or WinSCP).",
    "downloadURL": "ftp://ftp-oceans.ncei.noaa.gov/nodc/archive/arc0158/0209240/",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-steam"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.04.007",
    "mediaType": "placeholder/value",
    "description": "Journal Article",
    "downloadURL": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.04.007",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-steam"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2012.08.013",
    "mediaType": "placeholder/value",
    "description": "Journal Article",
    "downloadURL": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2012.08.013",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-steam"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2018.10.026",
    "mediaType": "placeholder/value",
    "description": "Journal Article",
    "downloadURL": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2018.10.026",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-steam"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2017.09.070",
    "mediaType": "placeholder/value",
    "description": "Journal Article",
    "downloadURL": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2017.09.070",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-steam"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "GCMD Keyword Forum Page",
    "mediaType": "placeholder/value",
    "description": "Global Change Master Directory (GCMD). 2025. GCMD Keywords, Version 21. Greenbelt, MD: Earth Science Data and Information System, Earth Science Projects Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). URL (GCMD Keyword Forum Page): https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD+Keywords",
    "downloadURL": "https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD%2BKeywords",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-steam"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "NCEI Contact Information",
    "mediaType": "placeholder/value",
    "description": "Information for contacts at NCEI.",
    "downloadURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/contact",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-steam"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA) website",
    "mediaType": "placeholder/value",
    "description": "Institution web page",
    "downloadURL": "http://www.niva.no/en/index",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-steam"
  }
]
identifier gov.noaa.nodc:0209240
issued 2020-03-09T00:00:00.000+00:00
keyword 
                                            [
  "0209240",
  "biological data",
  "cetacean",
  "STOMACH CONTENTS",
  "STOMACH CONTENTS - CONTENT WEIGHT",
  "microscope",
  "scale",
  "in situ",
  "laboratory analyses",
  "Coastal Carolina University",
  "NOAA Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research",
  "Coastal Waters of Alabama",
  "Coastal Waters of Southeast Alaska and British Columbia",
  "Gulf of Mexico",
  "North Atlantic Ocean",
  "North Pacific Ocean",
  "Southwest Atlantic Ocean (limit-20 W)",
  "oceanography",
  "DOC/NOAA/NOS/NCCOS/CCEHBR > Center For Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research, National Centers For Coastal Ocean Science, National Ocean Service, NOAA, U.S. Department Of Commerce",
  "Coastal Marine Mammal Assessments Program",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION > ANIMALS/VERTEBRATES > MAMMALS > CETACEANS",
  "Delphinus capensis",
  "Harbor porpoises",
  "Long-beaked common dolphin",
  "Phocoena phocoena",
  "Tursiops truncatus",
  "bottlenose dolphin",
  "cetaceans",
  "marine mammal strandings",
  "microplastic",
  "stomach weight",
  "MICROSCOPES > MICROSCOPES",
  "stereomicroscope",
  "OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN > NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN",
  "OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN > NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN > GULF OF AMERICA",
  "OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN > NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN > GULF OF MEXICO",
  "OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN > SOUTH ATLANTIC OCEAN",
  "OCEAN > PACIFIC OCEAN > NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN",
  "Waters of Maine",
  "Waters of North Carolina",
  "Waters of South Carolina",
  "Waters of Washington",
  "33BGLJ"
]
landingPage https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/contact
language 
                                            []
license https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
modified 2020-07-31T00:00:00.000+00:00
publisher 
                                            {
  "name": "NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information",
  "@type": "org:Organization"
}
references 
                                            [
  "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.04.007",
  "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2012.08.013",
  "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2018.10.026",
  "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2017.09.070"
]
rights otherRestrictions
spatial -68.301465,30.230487,-124.1749,47.734
temporal 2013-08-01T00:00:00+00:00/2019-10-31T00:00:00+00:00
title Microplastics in the gastrointestinal tracts of cetaceans from the United States (NCEI Accession 0209240)

data.gov

An official website of the GSA's Technology Transformation Services

Looking for U.S. government information and services?
Visit USA.gov