Quantitative overview of marine debris ingested by marine megafauna

• Published in: Marine pollution bulletin Vol. 151; p. 110858
• Main Authors: Kühn, Susanne, van Franeker, Jan Andries
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01-02-2020; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Animals; Aquatic birds; Biota; Birds; Debris; Dietary Exposure - statistics & numerical data; Eating; Ecosystem; Entanglement; Environmental Monitoring; Fish; Gastrointestinal Contents; Ingestion; Invertebrates; Mammals; Marine debris; Marine fishes; Marine mammals; Marine organisms; Megafauna; Plastic litter; Plastics; Polymers; Seabirds; Species; Turtles; Waste Products; Water Pollutants, Chemical; Seabirds; Turtles; Entanglement; Plastic litter; Marine mammals; Ingestion
• ISSN: 0025-326X; 1879-3363
• DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.110858

This review quantifies plastic interaction in marine biota. Firstly, entanglement and ingestion records for all marine birds, mammals, turtles, fish, and invertebrate species, are summarized from 747 studies. Marine debris affected 914 species through entanglement and/or ingestion. Ingestion was recorded for 701 species, entanglement was documented for 354 species. Secondly, the frequency of occurrence of ingestion per species (Sp-%FO) was extracted for marine birds, mammals and turtles. Thirdly, for seabird species, average numbers of plastics ingested per individual were determined. Highest Sp-%FO and average number of plastics were found in tubenosed seabirds with 41% of all birds analysed having plastics, on average 9.9 particles per bird. The Sp-%FO and average number of ingested particles is lower for most other species. However, for certain species, ingestion rates of litter are reason for serious concern. Standardized methods are crucial for future studies, to generate datasets that allow higher level ecosystem analyses.
•Entanglement and/or plastic ingestion has been documented for 914 marine species.•Some tubenose seabird species frequently ingest high quantities of plastic.•Frequency and abundance of ingested plastic is lower in other groups.•Large scale analyses are hampered by inconsistent and unclear data recording.