Low incidence of plastics in food loads delivered to nestlings by a zooplanktivorous seabird over a 21-year period. Issue 1 (15th August 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hipfner, J.M.; Studholme, K.R.; Galbraith, M.
• Is Part Of: Marine pollution bulletin. Volume 121:Issue 1/2(2017)
• Page Start: 320
• Page End: 322
• Publication Date: 2017-08-15
• Subjects: Cassin's Auklet -- Food loads -- Plastics -- Nestlings -- North Pacific Ocean; Marine pollution -- Periodicals; Marine Biology -- Periodicals; Water Pollution -- Periodicals; Mer -- Pollution -- Périodiques; Publications périodiques; Pollution des mers; Lutte antipollution; Electronic journals; 363.7394
• DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.06.028
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0025-326X

Abstract

Abstract: We quantified the amount of plastic found in food loads delivered to nestlings in Cassin's Auklet ( Ptychoramphus aleuticus ), a small, zooplanktivorous seabird, on Triangle Island, British Columbia, in 1996–2016. The density of plastic in surrounding waters is moderately high, yet few food loads contained any plastic (3 of 850), and none more than two pieces. That result accords well with previous observations on the other four North Pacific auklets ( Aethia spp.), leading us to conclude that true auklets rarely transfer plastic to nestlings. However, many hatch-year Cassin's Auklets found dead in coastal British Columbia, Washington and Oregon during the mass mortality event of fall and winter 2014–15 had plastic in their ventriculi. We suggest that these plastic particles would have been obtained at sea after fledging, perhaps while the birds transited south through a region of high plastic density off the west coast of Vancouver Island, Washington and Oregon. Highlights: Transfer of plastic from adults to nestlings was studied in zooplanktivorous Cassin's Auklets. Just 4 plastic pieces were found in 850 loads examined in 21 years on Triangle Island. 47% of hatch-year auklets had ingested plastic during mass mortality event in fall 2014. Most of that plastic was probably ingested as birds moved south from breeding colonies.