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Seabird biomonitoring indicates similar plastic pollution throughout the Canary Current
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Over 90% of Cory's shearwater fledglings sampled across three Canary Islands contained plastic, with white and transparent threadlike fragments predominating, likely from regional fishing activities. Despite spatial segregation in adult foraging areas across the Canary Current, no significant differences in plastic ingestion were detected between colonies, establishing shearwaters as effective regional plastic pollution bioindicators.
Marine plastic pollution is an emerging global threat for biodiversity. Plastic ingestion is one of the most typical and studied consequences with petrels being a particularly vulnerable group. We studied the plastic ingestion by Cory's shearwater (Calonectris borealis) fledglings in three islands of the Canarian Archipelago (Tenerife, Gran Canaria and Lanzarote). Breeders from different islands show substantial spatial segregation in their foraging areas across the Canary Current Large Marine Ecosystem (CCLME), a critical marine biodiversity hotspot and an important fishing ground in the North Atlantic Ocean. Here, we used a combination of plastic ingestion parameters (number, maximum length, type and colour of plastics) and stable isotopes (δ13C and δ15N) to study potential differences in plastic ingestion loads and trophic niche between three colonies. Our findings reveal a high incidence of plastic ingestion (>90 %) among birds from the three islands. However, although adult birds show foraging and trophic niche segregation across the CCLME, no substantial differences were found in plastic ingestion. White and transparent threadlike fragments were predominantly ingested, likely originating from fishing activities in the CCLME. We provide a baseline for monitoring of plastic pollution in the CCLME and highlight Cory's shearwater as an effective bioindicator of pelagic ecosystems. Our findings emphasize the need for more standardized plastic monitoring programs covering other islands, and for management measures in the fishing activities conducted in the CCLME.
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Cory's shearwater as a key bioindicator for monitoring floating plastics
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A study of 1,238 Cory's shearwaters necropsied over eight years at the Azores and Canary Islands found 90% plastic ingestion prevalence, with fledglings carrying greater plastic loads than adults and Canary Islands birds ingesting more plastic than Azorean birds. The study proposes a threshold value (less than 33% of turtles with more than 0.05 g ingested plastic) as a bioindicator benchmark for monitoring North Atlantic plastic pollution under the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive.
Characterization of Plastics Ingested by the Bioindicator Cory’s Shearwater from Tenerife Island (Canary Islands): Implications for Marine Environmental Monitoring
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Researchers characterised 674 plastic items found in the stomachs of Cory's shearwater fledglings from the Canary Islands, finding that ingested plastics were predominantly large microplastics (1-5 mm, 82%) with threadlike morphology, and that the birds serve as effective bioindicators of marine plastic pollution in the eastern Atlantic.
Plastic ingestion by Cory's and Scopoli's shearwaters (Calonectris spp.) from the north-eastern Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea
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This study documented plastic ingestion in 529 individuals of two Calonectris shearwater species (C. borealis and C. diomedea) from the northeast Atlantic and Mediterranean, finding higher plastic loads in Mediterranean birds and fledglings compared to post-fledglings. The authors proposed a mass-based threshold monitoring system, suggesting thresholds of 0.0098 g for fledglings and 0.0041 g for post-fledglings, under which 40–88% of birds depending on location exceeded the threshold, advocating this approach over particle-count methods.
Microplastics ingestion and chemical pollutants in seabirds of Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Spain)
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Gastrointestinal examination of 88 seabirds from 14 species on Gran Canaria revealed widespread plastic ingestion alongside elevated chemical pollutant levels in liver tissue. The study documents the co-occurrence of plastic ingestion and chemical contamination in Canary Island seabirds, where plastic pollution research has previously been limited.
Plastics reset in an adult Procellariform seabird species during the breeding season
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This study tracked temporal dynamics of ingested plastics in 96 adult Cory's shearwaters across three nesting periods over seven years in the Azores, finding that plastic loads decreased markedly during the breeding season, with over 80% of stomach plastic apparently transferred to offspring during chick-rearing. The results suggest that fledglings rather than breeding adults are better indicators of plastic contamination, and that adult plastic loads at breeding sites may reflect conditions from distant wintering migration routes.
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