Life starts with plastic: High occurrence of plastic pieces in fledglings of northern fulmars

Plastic pollution threatens many organisms around the world. In particular, the northern fulmar, Fulmarus glacialis, is known to ingest high quantities of plastics. Since data are sparse in the Eurasian Arctic, we investigated plastic burdens in the stomachs of fulmar fledglings from Kongsfjorden, S...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine Pollution Bulletin
Main Authors: Collard, France, Benjaminsen, Stine Charlotte, Herzke, Dorte, Husabø, Eirin, Sagerup, Kjetil, Tulatz, Felix, Gabrielsen, Geir W.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2024
Subjects:
Arctic
Fulmar
Svalbard
Fulmarus glacialis
Kongsfjord*
Kongsfjorden
Northern Fulmar
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10037/33785
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.116365
Description
Summary:Plastic pollution threatens many organisms around the world. In particular, the northern fulmar, Fulmarus glacialis, is known to ingest high quantities of plastics. Since data are sparse in the Eurasian Arctic, we investigated plastic burdens in the stomachs of fulmar fledglings from Kongsfjorden, Svalbard. Fifteen birds were collected and only particles larger than 1 mm were extracted, characterised and analysed with Fourier Transform InfraRed spectroscopy. All birds ingested plastic. In total, 683 plastic particles were found, with an average of 46 ± 40 SD items per bird. The most common shape, colour and polymer were hard fragment, white, and polyethylene, respectively. Microplastics ( 5 mm). This study confirms high numbers of ingested plastics in fulmar fledglings from Svalbard and suggests that fulmar fledglings may be suitable for temporal monitoring of plastic pollution, avoiding potential biases caused by age composition or breeding state.

Similar Items