News

Plastics in fulmars from the high arctic

Published on: March 5, 2015

IMARES has joined the Norwegian Polar Institute (NPI) in Tromsö in a project that aims to learn more about plastic pollution in the Arctic.

This research has resulted in a first publication on plastic ingestion by fulmars on Spitsbergen, Svalbard: Elevated levels of ingested plastic in a high Arctic seabird, the northern fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis).

Even at considerable distances from ‘civilization’ fulmars have considerable amounts of plastics in their stomachs. In future, this project aims to investigate the potential transfer of chemicals from plastics to the birds: some first results are given in NPI Report 2014-029: Plastic ingestion by Northern Fulmars, Fulmarus glacialis, in Svalbard and Iceland, and relationships between plastic ingestion and contaminant uptake. .

Stomach plastic contents of an individual northern fulmar from Svalbard, 2013. L–R: Industrial pellets; probably industrial; fragments; sheets; threads; foam. Scale bar indicates 1 cm

Authors of the paper during a project meeting in Tromsö in 2014: left to right: Geir Gabrielsen, Suse Kühn, Alice Trevail & Jan van Franeker

Contact dr. JA (Jan Andries) van Franeker

Contact form

Publications:

Trevail, A.M., Gabrielsen, G.W., Kühn, S. & Van Franeker, J.A. 2015.
Elevated levels of ingested plastic in a high Arctic seabird, the northern fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis).
Polar Biology xx: xx-xx DOI 10.1007/s00300-015-1657-4. (in press)

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00300-015-1657-4 (open access)
Trevail, A.M., Gabrielsen, G.W., Kühn, S., Bock, A. & Van Franeker, J.A. 2014. Plastic ingestion by Northern Fulmars, Fulmarus glacialis, in Svalbard and Iceland, and relationships between plastic ingestion and contaminant uptake. Norsk PolarInstitutt Kortrappport/Brief Report Series 2014-029. (24pp).