Occurrence of plastic particles in seabirds from the eastern North Pacific

We found plastic particles in the stomachs of 8 of the 11 species of seabirds caught as bycatch in the pelagic waters of the eastern North Pacific (41–50°N, 131–134°W). Plastic was found in all surface-feeding birds (two stormpetrel, one albatross, one petrel and one fulmar species) and in 75% of shearwaters. Densities in some stormpetrels, shearwaters and the petrel were possibly sufficient to impede digestion, but were negligible in other birds. Plastic was also found in two diving species (puffins) but absent in three others (murre, auklet and murrelet). Of 353 anthropogenic items examined, 29% were industrial pellets and 71% were fragments of discarded products (‘user’ plastic), with user plastic making up 60% of total mass. Our study is evidence of widespread plastic pollution affecting birds in a previously unsampled sector of the North Pacific.