oikonos

Northern Fulmars Track Pelagic Marine Debris

Stomach contents of Northern Fulmar

Stomach contents of a Northern Fulmar that washed up on a beach in Monterey Bay, California. The indigestible matter is mostly plastic. Fulmars ingest items from the ocean surface in their search for food. Past studies in Alaska reported 58 - 84% of fulmar stomachs contained plastic trash.
© MWVCRC Photo

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Northern Fulmar

Fulmarus glacialis © Peter Hodum

We use a wide-spread North Pacific seabird, the Northern Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis) as a biological indicator of pelagic marine debris. We identify and enumerate pelagic marine debris ingestion using stomach samples collected opportunistically by fisheries and community partners.
Our specific objectives are to:

examine birds recovered as bycatch and beached carcasses
identify the major types of ingested debris (industrial, post-consumer) to assist in targeting waste reduction efforts
compare current levels of plastic ingestion to previous studies in Alaska and California to evaluate if pollution levels are improving
disseminate data to agencies, educational institutions, and NGOs working to reduce marine debris

PROJECT RESULTS

We quantified the incidence of plastic ingestion in Northern Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis) collected opportunistically by fisheries observers (Alaska) or by beach surveyors during unusual mortality events (California) during 2003-2009. We compared the incidence and type of ingested plastic (industrial or post-consumer fragments) from fulmars collected taken as bycatch in Alaska fisheries in 2007-2008 (n = 173) and in central California during a 2007 Mystery Spill (n = 106). We then compared these samples to past studies and AK in 2005 (n = 198) in central CA in 2003 (n = 190). Our results indicate that the relative amount of plastics in both CA and AK has increased in both areas in recent years; from 71% to 85% in CA (2003 to 2007), and from 62% to 72% in AK (2005 to 2007-08). These findings indicate that marine debris pollution is pervasive in both relatively unpopulated (AK) and in heavily inhabited (CA) areas. This study highlights the value of using fulmar stomach contents as a bio-indicator of plastic marine debris in the North Pacific, similar to in the EU environmental metric developed for the North Sea.

We will present these findings at a special “Marine Debris” paper session at the World Seabird Conference in Victoria, British Columbia, September 2010.

STANDARDIZING MARINE DEBRIS STUDIES ACROSS OCEANS


Hannah Nevins, Holy Gray, and Jan van Franeker dissect seabirds and share methods.

In an effort to standardize quantification of plastic ingestion in both the North Pacific and Atlantic, Oikonos and the Marine Wildlife and Veterinary Care and Research Center hosted a week-long workshop to standardize techniques and methods with the successful program in the North Sea managed by Jan van Franeker of IMARES in September 2008. Biologists from 7 institutions participated (see collaborators). During the workshop, participants shared results, compared methods and designed new standardized protocols to facilitate data exchange (pictured right: J. van Franeker, H. Gray, H. Nevins).

The ultimate value of this work is to detect improvements in pollution levels as a result of multi-national efforts to reduce marine debris. Long-term funding is needed to obtain the necessary time-series.

PROJECT PERSONNEL

Hannah Nevins, Oikonos
Michelle Hester, Oikonos
Erica Donnelly, Oikonos & Moss Landing Marine Laboratories
Colleen Young, Marine Wildlife Veterinary Care & Research Center, Santa Cruz, CA