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111 | Plastic contamination in bycought yelkouan shearwater (Puffinus yelkouan) from the Mediterranean sea
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Researchers dissected bycaught yelkouan shearwaters from two Mediterranean sites to assess plastic contamination in their digestive tracts, using a standardized seabird monitoring protocol to quantify ingested meso- and microplastic debris in this endemic and threatened species.
Plastic pollution has emerged as a pervasive and persistent threat to marine ecosystems. Plastic debris is widely distributed across marine environments and can interact with organisms, leading to potential adverse effects. Seabirds are considered good indicators of plastic contamination and related impact because their interaction through ingestion, entanglement, and trophic transfer. However, up to date the extent of plastic contamination was investigated only on few and common seabird species. The aim of the present study was to assess plastic contamination in the digestive tract of bycaught yelkouan shearwaters (Puffinus yelkouan) individuals collected in two Mediterranean areas. The yelkouan shearwater is an endemic seabird to the Mediterranean Sea suffering different threats, including fisheries bycatch within foraging areas and sea pollution. Bycaught individuals were collected stranded along the coastline, entangled in trammel nets or hooked on longlines. Individuals were dissected using a standardized protocol adapted from the seabird plastic monitoring program and biometric data were recorded. Meso- (
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