Prevalence of marine debris in marine birds from the North Atlantic.
Marine birds have been found to ingest plastic debris in many of the world's oceans. Plastic accumulation data from necropsies findings and regurgitation studies are presented on 13 species of marine birds in the North Atlantic, from Georgia, USA to Nunavut, Canada and east to southwest Greenland and the Norwegian Sea. Of the species examined, the two surface plungers (great shearwaters Puffinus gravis; northern fulmars Fulmarus glacialis) had the highest prevalence of ingested plastic (71% and 51%, respectively). Great shearwaters also had the most pieces of plastics in their stomachs, with some individuals containing as many of 36 items. Seven species contained no evidence of plastic debris. Reporting of baseline data as done here is needed to ensure that data are available for marine birds over time and space scales in which we see changes in historical debris patterns in marine environments (i.e. decades) and among oceanographic regions.
Department of Biology, Carleton University, National Wildlife Research Centre, Raven Road, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H3, Canada. Electronic address: Jennifer.provencher@ec.gc.ca.
Jennifer F
JF
Provencher
Department of Biology, University of Saskatchewan and Environment Canada, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Alexander L
AL
Bond
Cognitive and Behavioural Ecology Program, Department of Psychology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
April
A
Hedd
Cognitive and Behavioural Ecology Program, Department of Psychology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
William A
WA
Montevecchi
Department of Biology, United Arab Emirates University, United Arab Emirates.
Sabir Bin
SB
Muzaffar
Seabird Ecological Assessment Network, Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, North Grafton, MA, USA.
Sarah J
SJ
Courchesne
National Wildlife Research Centre, Environment Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
H Grant
HG
Gilchrist
Museum of New Zealand/Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, New Zealand.
Sarah E
SE
Jamieson
Department of Biosciences, Aarhus University, Roskilde, Denmark; Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, Nuuk, Greenland.
Flemming R
FR
Merkel
Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, Nuuk, Greenland.
Knud
K
Falk
Marine Observers, Snedsted, Denmark.
Jan
J
Durinck
Biology Department, Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Mark L
ML
Mallory
D000818:Animals; D001717:Birds; D002170:Canada; D004435:Eating; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005766:Gastrointestinal Contents; D005845:Georgia; D006116:Greenland; D009791:Oceanography; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D010969:Plastics / Q000032:analysis; D013045:Species Specificity; D014866:Waste Products / Q000032:analysis*; D014873:Water Pollutants
D010969:Plastics; D014866:Waste Products; D014873:Water Pollutants
Fulmar; North Atlantic; Ocean; Plastic; Pollution; Shearwater