title: Plastic ingestion by Newell's (Puffinus newelli) and wedge-tailed shearwaters (Ardenna pacifica) in Hawaii.
abstract: The ingestion of plastic by seabirds has been used as an indicator of pollution in the marine environment. On Kaua'i, HI, USA, 50.0 % of Newell's (Puffinus newelli) and 76.9 % of wedge-tailed shearwater (Ardenna pacifica) fledglings necropsied during 2007-2014 contained plastic items in their digestive tract, while 42.1 % of adult wedge-tailed shearwaters had ingested plastic. For both species, the frequency of plastic ingestion has increased since the 1980s with some evidence that the mass and the number of items ingested per bird have also increased. The color of plastic ingested by the shearwaters was assessed relative to beach-washed plastics by using Jaccard's index (where J = 1 complete similarity). The color (J = 0.65-0.68) of items ingested by both species, and the type ingested by wedge-tailed shearwaters (J = 0.85-0.87), overlapped with plastic available in the local environment indicating moderate selection for plastic color and type. This study has shown that the Hawaiian populations of shearwaters, like many seabird species, provide useful but worrying insights into plastic pollution and the health of our oceans.
authors.affiliation: Kaua'i Endangered Seabird Recovery Project, 3900 Hanapepe Rd, Hanapepe, HI, 96716, USA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Kain
authors.affiliation: Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, 20 Castray Esplanade, Battery Point, Tasmania, 7004, Australia. Jennifer.Lavers@utas.edu.au.
authors.forename: Jennifer L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Lavers
authors.affiliation: Kaua'i Chapter, Surfrider Foundation, PO Box 819, Waimea, HI, 96796, USA.
authors.forename: Carl J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Berg
authors.affiliation: Kaua'i Endangered Seabird Recovery Project, 3900 Hanapepe Rd, Hanapepe, HI, 96716, USA.
authors.forename: André F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Raine
authors.affiliation: Ardenna Research, Potton, Sandy, Bedfordshire, SG19 2QA, UK.
authors.forename: Alexander L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Bond
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001717:Birds / Q000378:metabolism*; D003116:Color; D004435:Eating; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract; D006254:Hawaii; D010969:Plastics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D010969:Plastics
keywords: Marine debris ingestion; North Pacific Gyre; Plastic pollution; Seabird sentinel