Threat of plastic pollution to seabirds is global, pervasive, and increasing

Plastic pollution in the ocean is a global concern; concentrations reach 580,000 pieces per km(2) and production is increasing exponentially. Although a large number of empirical studies provide emerging evidence of impacts to wildlife, there has been little systematic assessment of risk. We performed a spatial risk analysis using predicted debris distributions and ranges for 186 seabird species to model debris exposure. We adjusted the model using published data on plastic ingestion by seabirds. Eighty of 135 (59%) species with studies reported in the literature between 1962 and 2012 had ingested plastic, and, within those studies, on average 29% of individuals had plastic in their gut. Standardizing the data…

• CO
  Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions, Australian Research Council

  Award: DE130101336
• CS
  Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
• UO
  University of California, Santa Barbara
• NC
  National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis