Hannah P. Floren, Gary W. Shugart, Plastic in Cassin’s Auklets
(Ptychoramphus aleuticus) from the 2014 stranding on the Northeast
Pacific Coast, Marine Pollution Bulletin, Volume 117, Issues 1–2, 15
April 2017, Pages 496-498, ISSN 0025-326X,
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.01.076.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X17301108)
Abstract: Abstract
Oceanic plastic debris found in the digestive tracts of seabirds
includes industrial plastic pellets and post-consumer user plastics. We
examined whether the amount and type of plastic ingested by Cassin’s
Auklets (Ptychoramphus aleuticus) is changing by surveying the stomach
contents of 171 Cassin’s Auklets stranded along the Washington and
Oregon coasts in 2014. We found that 41.5% of the birds contained
plastic in their ventriculi, similar to values from the North Subarctic
Pacific reported in the 1980s. Industrial pellets were found in 22.8% of
our samples, and accounted for 28.1% of all the plastic pieces found.
Industrial pellets tended to be larger than pieces of user plastic and
accounted for 40.2% of total plastic weight. These industrial pellets
were significantly smaller than those found in other species, suggesting
either that Cassin’s Auklets selected smaller plastic particles or that
plastic was retained in ventriculi and worn down.
Keywords: Microplastic; Northeast Pacific; Cassin’s Auklet;
Ptychoramphus aleuticus; Marine debris; Plastic pollution