Plastic debris in Mediterranean seabirds

Marina Codina-García, Teresa Militão, Javier Moreno, Jacob 
González-Solís, Plastic debris in Mediterranean seabirds, Marine 
Pollution Bulletin, Volume 77, Issues 1–2, 15 December 2013, Pages 
220-226, ISSN 0025-326X, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2013.10.002.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X13006048)
Abstract: Plastic debris is often ingested by marine predators and can 
cause health disorders and even death. We present the first assessment 
of plastic ingestion in Mediterranean seabirds. We quantified and 
measured plastics accumulated in the stomach of 171 birds from 9 species 
accidentally caught by longliners in the western Mediterranean from 2003 
to 2010. Cory’s shearwaters (Calonectris diomedea) showed the highest 
occurrence (94%) and large numbers of small plastic particles per 
affected bird (on average N = 15.3 ± 24.4 plastics and mass = 23.4 ± 
49.6 mg), followed by Yelkouan shearwaters (Puffinus yelkouan, 70%, N = 
7.0 ± 7.9, 42.1 ± 100.0 mg), Balearic shearwaters (Puffinus 
mauretanicus, 70%, N = 3.6 ± 2.9, 5.5 ± 9.7 mg) and the rest of species 
(below 33%, N = 2.7, 113.6 ± 128.4 mg). Plastic characteristics did not 
differ between sexes and were not related to the physical condition of 
the birds. Our results point out the three endemic and threatened 
shearwater species as being particularly exposed to plastic accumulation.

Plastic debris in Mediterranean seabirds