Plastic pollution in marine environments and its impact on marine life is an increasing concern. The issue was the focus of 15 presentations and a workshop at last year’s World Seabird Conference, summaries and abstracts from which are available on the Seabirds website, an important resource for anyone with an interest in seabird biology and conservation. Off the BC coast, there is a swirling mass of plastic debris trapped in the North Pacific Gyre, sometimes referred to as the ‘Great Pacific Garbage Patch’.
Until recently, few studies have been undertaken to quantify plastic ingestion by seabirds using Canadian waters. In 2010, a series of Northern Fulmar carcasses collected by BC Beached Bird Survey volunteers and Parks Canada staff in the Tofino-Ucluelet area, following persistent November 2009 storms, were analysed by Stephanie Avery-Gomm, a Masters student at the University of BC (UBC), as part of a collaborative study between UBC, Bird Studies Canada, Environment Canada, and the BC Ministry of Agriculture’s Animal Health Centre.
Preliminary results from stomach contents analyses are startling: of the 36 Northern Fulmars collected on the west coast of Vancouver Island, all but one was found to have ingested plastic.An article on plastics ingestion by seabirds in Canada, including recent results from the Arctic, was published earlier this week in the Vancouver Sun.