title: Entanglement of Antarctic fur seals at Bird Island, South Georgia.
abstract: Between November 1989 and March 2013, 1033 Antarctic fur seals Arctocephalus gazella were observed entangled in marine debris at Bird Island, South Georgia. The majority of entanglements involved plastic packaging bands (43%), synthetic line (25%) or fishing net (17%). Juvenile male seals were the most commonly entangled (44%). A piecewise regression analysis showed that a single breakpoint at 1994 gave the best description of inter-annual variability in the data, with higher levels of entanglements prior to 1994 (mean=110±28) followed by persistent lower levels (mean=28±4). Records of entanglements from other sites monitored in the Scotia Sea are also presented. Legislation imposed by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) has, to a certain extent, been effective, but persistent low levels of seal entanglements are still a cause for concern at South Georgia.
authors.affiliation: British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ET, UK. Electronic address: clwa@bas.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Claire M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Waluda
authors.forename: Iain J
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Staniland
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000864:Antarctic Regions; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005260:Female; D046069:Fur Seals; D008297:Male; D014866:Waste Products / Q000032:analysis* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014873:Water Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D014876:Water Pollution / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
chemical_list: D014866:Waste Products; D014873:Water Pollutants
keywords: Antarctic fur seal; Arctocephalus gazella; Entanglement; Fishery; Marine debris; Scotia Sea