Vibrio bacteria are known to feast on marine plant and animal tissues on the coastline. When humans consume seafood or seawater infected with these pathogens, they can cause life-threatening illnesses like cholera. The species Vibrio vulnificus can even infect wounds, risking life-threatening destruction of surrounding tissue.
Finding a number of Vibrio species, some of which are undescribed, happily living their best life on waste is far from good news. It’s yet another potential vector for human disease that experts have not accounted for. Even worse, the floating habitat isn’t going anywhere. In fact, it seems to be expanding in size and washing up on our coastlines like never before.
The recent analysis from Florida Atlantic University included samples of ocean plastic collected in the Caribbean and Sargasso Seas in 2012 and 2013, as well as samples of brown seaweed, called Sargassum, eel larvae, and seawater.
In both the plastic and seaweed samples, the team found multiple species of Vibrio bacteria, some of which have never been seen before.
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