3 minute read
"Arctic Seabirds and Microplastics"
When people think about plastic pollution, the images that are usually imagined are large swaths of plastic floating in the ocean, species such as turtles suffocating on straws, images of seabirds such as albatrosses with stomachs full of plastic, or beaches covered in garbage. However, not all examples of plastic pollution are easily visible. Microplastics are defined as pieces of plastic that are five millimeters or smaller, and can be either primary (originally produced as pieces of such a size) or secondary (tiny pieces that came from larger plastic objects). In some situations, microplastics can be more dangerous and easily dispersed than their larger pieces, resulting in them showing up in some peculiar places, such as Arctic seabird guano.
Despite the Arctic being relatively separate in location to the places where plastic pollution originates, plastic is still carried into Arctic ecosystems. This can be from currents carrying the plastic, organisms carrying plastic inside of them moving into the Arctic, litter from ships such as shipping vessels that are traveling through the Canadian Arctic, or other sources. Seabirds such as fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis) in the Qaqulluit National Wildlife Area in the Canadian Arctic have been found by researchers from
by Harry Kim
Texas, USA
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Canadian Universities, led by Bonnie M. Hamilton of the University of Toronto, to contain amounts of microplastics in their digestive systems. The consumption of macroplastics by organisms is an issue mainly due to the fact that macroplastic takes up space in the digestive system, acting as a clog and/or resulting in less food to be able to be consumed and digested. Plastic consumed by organisms can also result in microplastics being released via excrement due to pieces being broken off of microplastic pieces in the digestive system or from consuming microplastics or prey containing microplastics.
Plastic has been documented by the Canadian researchers in the digestive systems of fulmars since the 1970s, and since the 1980s, fulmars have been considered and used as biological indicators to aid in showing the overall health of their environment. The discovery of microplastics in fulmar guano in the Arctic could display a way that microplastics have been entering remote Arctic ecosystems where microplastics could otherwise be rarer. The fact that no microplastic gradient was found in environmental systems relative to the area that the seabird colony occupied gives further credence to the idea that the microplastics are being delivered primarily by seabirds from the plastic they consume with or instead of food (not necessarily limited to fulmars).
Although further research is warranted due to the fact that the full range of sources for the
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by Harry Kim
Texas, USA
microplastic pollution that appears in the seabird colony is still not fully known, it is plausible to assume that fulmars and other seabirds are
transportation vessels for microplastics, being at least one source of the microplastics. Due to their vast traveling distances and migrations, birds are able to bring contaminants and pollutants from one area to another, even if those areas are separated by large distances. This causes one of the main issues in solving such a dilemma: how can the feeding grounds of migratory seabirds be controlled when they travel great distances? Plastics, both macro and micro, have become such an intertwined aspect of the environment that such a feat is practically impossible. However, steps can instead be taken to reduce the amount of plastic in the ocean in general, taken by both governments and individuals.
How can the feeding grounds of migratory seabirds be controlled when they travel great distances?
by Harry Kim
Texas, USA Everyone has a role to play, and it is possible that plastic pollution could be limited to the point where it no longer serves as much of a threat to organisms such as the fulmars.
Works Cited/Image Credits
Hamilton, Bonnie M., et al. 2020.
“Microplastics around an Arctic Seabird Colony: Particle Community Composition Varies Across Environmental Matrices. ” Science of the Total Environment 773 (145536): 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145536
