Fulmar Finders Information United Kingdom 2022

• Main Authors: van Franeker, Jan, Kühn, Susanne, Bittner, Oliver, Fairclough, Keith, Huband, Sally, Kakkonen, Jenni, McIntosh, Kelly, Meijboom, André, Miles, Will
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: Wageningen Marine Research 2024
• Subjects: Life Science; Fulmarus glacialis
• Online Access: https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/fulmar-finders-information-united-kingdom-2022; https://doi.org/10.18174/657897

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 current report shows all birds from the UK for 2022. Avian influenza restrictions limited the number of birds available for study. 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 always viewed as an average over the most recent five consecutive years. Over the current 2018-2022 period, 105 fulmar stomachs were investigated, among which 82% contained some plastic. Each fulmar on average had 23.5 plastic pieces in the stomach weighing 0.16 gram. The Fulmar-Threshold-Value (FTV) of 0.1 g was exceeded by 44% 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 2022 update of the scientific monitoring report series for the UK.