title: Incidence of plastic debris in Sooty Tern nests: A preliminary study on Trindade Island, a remote area of Brazil.
abstract: Plastic is abundant in the oceans, reaching pelagic zones away from continents. Here we present the first recordings of plastic used as nest material in Sooty Tern nests, on a remote oceanic island. We describe our findings in terms of quantity, size and color of plastic debris. A total of 78 plastics were noted in 54 nests. Four color categories were found: Blue, White, Green and Red. Blue fragments were the most frequent color, present three times as much as white debris. This pattern was present despite blue fragments being smaller and lighter. The plastic debris of lowest frequency were the larger and heavier pieces (red). To our knowledge this is the first record of plastic in Sooty Tern nests. Trindade Island is on an oceanic zone expected to accumulate garbage due to the dynamic ocean currents. Such findings call for a closer inspection of pollution in the Atlantic Ocean.
authors.affiliation: Universidade de São Paulo, Instituto Oceanográfico, Laboratório de Química Inorgânica Marinha, Brazil. Electronic address: elisapetersen@yahoo.com.br.
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: de Souza Petersen
authors.affiliation: MARE - Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade de Coimbra, Departamento de Ciências da Vida, Coimbra, Portugal. Electronic address: biokruger@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Lucas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Krüger
authors.affiliation: Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos, Laboratório de Ornitologia e Animais Marinhos, Brazil. Electronic address: alexandre.bravo@hormail.com.
authors.forename: Alexandre
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dezevieski
authors.affiliation: Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos, Laboratório de Ornitologia e Animais Marinhos, Brazil. Electronic address: vpetry@unisinos.br.
authors.forename: MariaVirginia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Petry
authors.affiliation: Universidade de São Paulo, Instituto Oceanográfico, Laboratório de Química Orgânica Marinha, Brazil. Electronic address: rmontone@usp.br.
authors.forename: Rosalinda Carmela
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Montone
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001267:Atlantic Ocean; D001938:Brazil; D046091:Charadriiformes; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005735:Garbage; D015994:Incidence; D062312:Islands; D009425:Nesting Behavior; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D010969:Plastics / Q000032:analysis*; D014866:Waste Products / Q000032:analysis*; D014873:Water Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D010969:Plastics; D014866:Waste Products; D014873:Water Pollutants
keywords: Atlantic Ocean; Nest material; Oceanic gyre; Onychoprion fuscatus; Pollutant; Seabird