Seabirds, oceanic gyres and plastic pollution

Research institute IMARES has a long-term monitoring study on plastics in stomach contents of Northern Fulmars in the North Sea. The Sea Education Association in the USA has a long-term study using surface nets to measure the accumulation of debris in the plastic soup of the North-Atlantic Garbage Patch. Comparison of these two unique datasets in the scientific journal ‘Environmental Pollution’ provides remarkable insights.
The study shows that a reduction of plastic waste in source areas, as for example seen through North Sea Fulmars, is quickly reflected in the large oceanic gyres, reflected in the North Atlantic garbage patch (News Item Wageningen UR, 13 April 2015).
Click here for the news item.
Click here for the published article (1.56 MB).

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