The incidence and characteristics of plastic particles ingested by seabirds

Ryan, Peter G.

doi:10.1016/0141-1136(87)90028-6

Cited by 255 publications

(152 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Ryan (1987) reported 2 of 18 (11%) black-browed albatrosses T. melanophris collected in South Africa during the early 1980s contained plastic, but both birds to do so were stranded during stormy weather, potentially influencing their likelihood of eating unusual items (Ryan 1987). …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Plastic items are readily detected because almost all items ingested by seabirds float, and those that do not are less dense than other hard prey remains (bones, otoliths, squid beaks), and thus move more readily when the sample is stirred. This was the approach used by Ryan (1987) to detect plastic in the stomach contents of a wide range of seabirds.…”

Section: Albatross Stomach Contentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Regional differences in plastic ingestion among Southern Ocean fur seals and albatrosses

Ryan

Bruyn

Bester

2016

Marine Pollution Bulletin

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We provide data on regional differences in plastic ingestion for two Southern Ocean top predators: Arctocephalus fur seals and albatrosses (Diomedeidae). Fur seals breeding on Macquarie Island in the 1990s excreted small (mainly 2-5 mm) plastic fragments, probably derived secondarily from myctophid fish. No plastic was found in the scats of these seals breeding on three islands in the southwest Indian and central South Atlantic Oceans, despite myctophids dominating their diets at these locations.Compared to recent reports of plastic ingestion by albatrosses off the east coast of 2 South America, we confirm that plastic is seldom found in the stomachs of Thalassarche albatrosses off South Africa, but found no Diomedea albatrosses to contain plastic, compared to 26% off South America. The reasons for such regional differences are unclear, but emphasise the importance of reporting negative as well as positive records of plastic ingestion by marine biota.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Albatross Stomach Contentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Regional differences in plastic ingestion among Southern Ocean fur seals and albatrosses

Ryan

Bruyn

Bester

2016

Marine Pollution Bulletin

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“…It was also in the 1970s that the first reports of beach litter were published [17]. More frequent reports on occurrence were consistently being published from the 1980s (e.g., [18,19]), and it was in this decade that a systematically growing trend of marine pollution with plastic was first reported [20]. These findings initiated political discussions about the problem and were followed with political initiatives such as the MARPOL Annex V aiming at reducing plastic wastes at sea [21].…”

Section: Historical Developmentmentioning

confidence: 93%

Risk Perception of Plastic Pollution: Importance of Stakeholder Involvement and Citizen Science

Syberg

Hansen

Christensen

et al. 2017

The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry

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Risk perception has a significant impact on how society reacts to a given risk. There have been cases where a mismatch between the actual risk and the perception of it has led to poor decisions on societal initiatives, such as inappropriate regulatory measures. It is therefore important that the perception of risk is based on an informed foundation acknowledging the biases and drivers that inevitably go with risk perception. Plastic pollution differs in regard to other classical risks, such as those posed by chemicals or genetically modified organisms (GMOs), since the pollution is more visible and already has a significant magnitude. At the same time, everyone is familiar with using plastic, and our daily lives are highly dependent on the use of plastic. This offers some potential to strengthen the societal risk perception and subsequently implement effective measures to address the pollution.In this chapter, we define eight risk perception drivers (voluntariness, control, knowledge, timing, severity, benefit, novelty, and tangibility) and relate these drivers to plastic pollution. We discuss the process in which plastic pollution has been recognized as an important environmental problem by scientists, the public, and policy makers and elaborate on how the eight risk drivers have influenced this process. Plastic pollution has several of the characteristics that can enhance people's perception of the risk as being important and which has generated great awareness of the problem. The chapter finally discusses how risk perception can be improved by greater stakeholder involvement and utilization of citizen science and thereby improve the foundation for timely and efficient societal measures.

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“…Among seabirds, species in the order Procellariiformes (albatrosses and petrels) seem to be the most vulnerable to effects of plastic ingestion (Ryan 1987). This is due to their smaller ventriculus (gizzard), and often a limited ability to regurgitate ingested plastics (Azzarello and Van Vleet 1987).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There are many published studies on the ingestion of marine debris by seabirds (Ryan 1987;Colabuono et al 2009;Codina-García et al 2013), and very often these species are used as indicators of marine pollution (Robards et al 1995;Ryan 2008;Ryan et al 2009;Bond et al 2013;Elliott and Elliott 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Marine debris ingestion by albatrosses in the southwest Atlantic Ocean

Jiménez

Domingo²,

Brazeiro

et al. 2015

Marine Pollution Bulletin

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Plastics and other marine debris affect wildlife through entanglement and by ingestion. We assessed the ingestion of marine debris by seven albatross species in the southwest Atlantic by analysing stomach contents of birds killed in fisheries. Of the 128 specimens examined, including four Diomedea species (n=78) and three Thalassarche species (n=50), 21 (16.4%) contained 1-4 debris items, mainly in the ventriculus. The most common type was plastic fragments. Debris was most frequent in Diomedea species (25.6%) and, particularly, D. sanfordi (38.9%) and very rare in Thalassarche species (2.0%), presumably reflecting differences in foraging behavior or distribution. Frequency of occurrence was significantly higher in male than female Diomedea albatrosses (39.3% vs. 18.0%). Although levels of accumulated debris were relatively low overall, and unlikely to result in gut blockage, associated toxins might nevertheless represent a health risk for Diomedea albatrosses, compounding the negative impact of other human activities on these threatened species.

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The incidence and characteristics of plastic particles ingested by seabirds

Cited by 255 publications

References 16 publications

Regional differences in plastic ingestion among Southern Ocean fur seals and albatrosses

Regional differences in plastic ingestion among Southern Ocean fur seals and albatrosses

Risk Perception of Plastic Pollution: Importance of Stakeholder Involvement and Citizen Science

Marine debris ingestion by albatrosses in the southwest Atlantic Ocean

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