Incidence of plastic debris in Sooty Tern nests: A preliminary study on Trindade Island, a remote area of Brazil

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2016.02.036

Marine Pollution Bulletin

Volume 105, Issue 1, 15 April 2016, Pages 373-376

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2016.02.036 Get rights and content

Highlights

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Plastic is a main threat for marine organisms.
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Seabirds are known for ingest plastic or take plastic as nesting material.
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We registered nests of Sooty Terns in a tropical pelagic island with plastic debris.
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Data and inspection of plastic pollution on such remote areas deserve more attention.

Abstract

Plastic is abundant in the oceans, reaching pelagic zones away from continents. Here we present the first recordings of plastic used as nest material in Sooty Tern nests, on a remote oceanic island. We describe our findings in terms of quantity, size and color of plastic debris. A total of 78 plastics were noted in 54 nests. Four color categories were found: Blue, White, Green and Red. Blue fragments were the most frequent color, present three times as much as white debris. This pattern was present despite blue fragments being smaller and lighter. The plastic debris of lowest frequency were the larger and heavier pieces (red). To our knowledge this is the first record of plastic in Sooty Tern nests. Trindade Island is on an oceanic zone expected to accumulate garbage due to the dynamic ocean currents. Such findings call for a closer inspection of pollution in the Atlantic Ocean.

Section snippets

Acknowledgments

This paper is part of the Project “Distribution and trophic ecology of birds of Trindade Island and Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago: data for the evaluation of contamination by organic pollutants in ocean ecosystems” (process number: 405416/2012-1) funded by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) with logistical support from the “Secretaria da Comissão Interministerial para os Recursos do Mar” (SECIRM). Our thanks to Erik Van Sebille for allowing us to use

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Different methods are used to quantify and classify litter in seabird nests, such as the collection method (CM) and the photography method (PM). We compared the CM and PM in 195 brown booby (Sula leucogaster) nests breeding in a coastal archipelago in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Photographs recorded 109 litter items in 44 nests (23% of nests), compared to 416 litter items in 82 nests (42%) by the CM. Pairwise comparison showed a significant difference in the variety and amount of litter items per nest, which was greater for CM (2.1 ± 1.1 categories, 2.13 ± 4.8 items) than for PM (1.5 ± 0.8 categories; 0.56 ± 1.6 items), in addition to a significant difference in the overall litter composition. The CM has been the most often used method to date. Although PM underestimates the amount and frequency of litter, we encourage its use when litter is abundant in nests and for threatened species.

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BaselineIncidence of plastic debris in Sooty Tern nests: A preliminary study on Trindade Island, a remote area of Brazil

Highlights

Abstract

Section snippets

Acknowledgments

Mar. Pollut. Bull.

Mar. Pollut. Bull.

Mar. Pollut. Bull.

Mar. Pollut. Bull.

Mar. Pollut. Bull.

Mar. Pollut. Bull.

Mar. Pollut. Bull.

Mar. Pollut. Bull.

Mar. Pollut. Bull.

Mar. Pollut. Bull.

Mar. Pollut. Bull.

Mar. Pollut. Bull.

J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol.

Mar. Pollut. Bull.

Mar. Pollut. Bull.

Marine birds as sentinels of environmental pollution

EcoHealth

Plastic for dinner? Observation of frequent debris ingestion by pelagic predatory fishes from the central north pacific

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

Plastic pollution in the World's Oceans: more than 5 trillion plastic pieces weighing over 250,000 tons afloat at sea

PLoS ONE

Baseline
Incidence of plastic debris in Sooty Tern nests: A preliminary study on Trindade Island, a remote area of Brazil