title: Ingestion of marine litter by loggerhead sea turtles, Caretta caretta, in Portuguese continental waters.
abstract: The accumulation of litter in marine and coastal environments is a major threat to marine life. Data on marine litter in the gastrointestinal tract of stranded loggerhead turtles, Caretta caretta, found along the Portuguese continental coast was presented. Out of the 95 analysed loggerheads, litter was present in 56 individuals (59.0%) and most had less than 10 litter items (76.8%) and less than 5 g (dm) (96.8%). Plastic was the main litter category (frequency of occurrence=56.8%), while sheet (45.3%) was the most relevant plastic sub-category. There was no influence of loggerhead stranding season, cause of stranding or size on the amount of litter ingested (mean number and dry mass of litter items per turtle). The high ingested litter occurrence frequency in this study supports the use of the loggerhead turtle as a suitable tool to monitor marine litter trends, as required by the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biologia & Centro de Estudos do Ambiente e do Mar (CESAM), Universidade de Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal; Sociedade Portuguesa de Vida Selvagem (SPVS), Departamento Biologia, Universidade do Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal. Electronic address: lvrnicolau@ua.pt.
authors.forename: Lídia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Nicolau
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biologia & Centro de Estudos do Ambiente e do Mar (CESAM), Universidade de Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal; Sociedade Portuguesa de Vida Selvagem (SPVS), Departamento Biologia, Universidade do Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal.
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marçalo
authors.affiliation: Sociedade Portuguesa de Vida Selvagem (SPVS), Departamento Biologia, Universidade do Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal; Departamento Biologia & Centro de Biologia Molecular e Ambiental (CBMA), Universidade do Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal.
authors.forename: Marisa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biologia & Centro de Estudos do Ambiente e do Mar (CESAM), Universidade de Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal; Sociedade Portuguesa de Vida Selvagem (SPVS), Departamento Biologia, Universidade do Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sá
authors.affiliation: Sociedade Portuguesa de Vida Selvagem (SPVS), Departamento Biologia, Universidade do Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal; Departamento Biologia & Centro de Estudos do Ambiente e do Mar (CESAM), Universidade do Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal.
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vingada
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biologia & Centro de Estudos do Ambiente e do Mar (CESAM), Universidade de Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal; Sociedade Portuguesa de Vida Selvagem (SPVS), Departamento Biologia, Universidade do Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal.
authors.forename: Catarina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Eira
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D056727:Endangered Species; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005766:Gastrointestinal Contents; D010969:Plastics / Q000032:analysis*; D011174:Portugal; D012621:Seasons; D014426:Turtles; D014873:Water Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D010969:Plastics; D014873:Water Pollutants
keywords: Gut content analysis; Marine Strategy Framework Directive; Marine turtles; Plastic; Pollution