Fulmar Finders Information United Kingdom 2020 and 2021

• Main Authors: van Franeker, Jan, Kühn, Susanne, Bittner, Oliver, Fairclough, Feith, Huband, Sally, Kakkonen, Jenni, McIntosh, Kelly, Meijboom, André, Miles, Will, Turner, Daniel
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: Wageningen Marine Research 2023
• Subjects: Life Science; Fulmar; Fulmarus glacialis
• Online Access: https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/fulmar-finders-information-united-kingdom-2020-and-2021; https://doi.org/10.18174/585268

This document is an illustrated report intended for the surveyors in the monitoring program of plastic particles from stomachs of beached Northern Fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis). It contains brief summary information and photos of stomach contents from individual birds. The previous report contained only some of birds collected in 2020 because of corona travel restrictions. The current report therefore shows all birds from the UK for 2020 and 2021 (plus a late 2018 bird from Shetland). Low sample sizes are not a problem for the monitoring program although larger sample sizes will increase the potential for statistical analyses. In order to avoid the variability in annual samples, the ‘current situation’ is viewed as an average over the most recent five consecutive years. During 2017-2021, 84% of 108 fulmar stomachs from the UK North Sea coasts contained plastic with an average per bird of 24 particles and 0.17 g in mass. The Fulmar-Threshold-Value (FTV) of 0.1 g was exceeded by 45% of the stomachs. The international policy aim is that this percentage should be reduced to below 10%. For details on e.g. trends, see the 2021 update of the scientific monitoring report series for the UK.