Passing plastic: traces of plastic in the fecal samples of a high Arctic seabird in Tunu (East Greenland)
Arctic seabirds are key bio-indicators of marine plastic pollution due to their transient movement and large populations. Although many studies have quantified the ingestion of microplastic particles (<5 mm in size) through necropsy or regurgitation sampling methods, little is known about post-di...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Canadian Science Publishing
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Arctic Science |
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| Online Access: | https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/10.1139/as-2024-0014 |
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| author | Justine Ammendolia Garth A. Covernton Alexandra Skrepnyk John F. Dower Shoshanah Jacobs |
| author_facet | Justine Ammendolia Garth A. Covernton Alexandra Skrepnyk John F. Dower Shoshanah Jacobs |
| author_sort | Justine Ammendolia |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Arctic seabirds are key bio-indicators of marine plastic pollution due to their transient movement and large populations. Although many studies have quantified the ingestion of microplastic particles (<5 mm in size) through necropsy or regurgitation sampling methods, little is known about post-digestive particle excretion. Due to the logistical challenges of non-lethally sampling feces from Arctic seabirds, this pathway remains largely understudied. We non-lethally collected 110 fecal samples from little auks (Alle alle) during the 2014 breeding season in Ukaleqarteq, Tunu (Kap Höegh, East Greenland). We identified 25 potential microplastic particles (>100 µm in size), 19 of which were analyzed for material composition using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy and Raman micro-spectroscopy. Of these, 13 particles were successfully matched to materials, with five as plastic. This produced an average concentration of 0.08 ± 0.28 microplastic particles per fecal sample, with no difference of occurrence between chicks and adults. Particle lengths ranged from 113 to 751 µm. The presence of microplastics larger than our lower limit of detectability of 100 µm suggests a need for analysis of smaller particles and microfibers in this species. We contribute to understanding how microplastics pass through little auks and characterize how this species interacts with the plastic pathways. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-57c21900afc74163b9d4e2f56174fd71 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2368-7460 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Canadian Science Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Arctic Science |
| spelling | doaj-art-57c21900afc74163b9d4e2f56174fd712025-02-06T20:55:15ZengCanadian Science PublishingArctic Science2368-74602025-01-011111210.1139/as-2024-0014Passing plastic: traces of plastic in the fecal samples of a high Arctic seabird in Tunu (East Greenland)Justine Ammendolia0Garth A. Covernton1Alexandra Skrepnyk2John F. Dower3Shoshanah Jacobs4School for Resource and Environmental Studies, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, CanadaDepartment of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, St. George Campus, Toronto, ON, CanadaDepartment of Biology University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, CanadaDepartment of Biology University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, CanadaDepartment of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, CanadaArctic seabirds are key bio-indicators of marine plastic pollution due to their transient movement and large populations. Although many studies have quantified the ingestion of microplastic particles (<5 mm in size) through necropsy or regurgitation sampling methods, little is known about post-digestive particle excretion. Due to the logistical challenges of non-lethally sampling feces from Arctic seabirds, this pathway remains largely understudied. We non-lethally collected 110 fecal samples from little auks (Alle alle) during the 2014 breeding season in Ukaleqarteq, Tunu (Kap Höegh, East Greenland). We identified 25 potential microplastic particles (>100 µm in size), 19 of which were analyzed for material composition using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy and Raman micro-spectroscopy. Of these, 13 particles were successfully matched to materials, with five as plastic. This produced an average concentration of 0.08 ± 0.28 microplastic particles per fecal sample, with no difference of occurrence between chicks and adults. Particle lengths ranged from 113 to 751 µm. The presence of microplastics larger than our lower limit of detectability of 100 µm suggests a need for analysis of smaller particles and microfibers in this species. We contribute to understanding how microplastics pass through little auks and characterize how this species interacts with the plastic pathways.https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/10.1139/as-2024-0014microplasticslittle auksplastic pollutionTunu (East Greenland)seabirds |
| spellingShingle | Justine Ammendolia Garth A. Covernton Alexandra Skrepnyk John F. Dower Shoshanah Jacobs Passing plastic: traces of plastic in the fecal samples of a high Arctic seabird in Tunu (East Greenland) Arctic Science microplastics little auks plastic pollution Tunu (East Greenland) seabirds |
| title | Passing plastic: traces of plastic in the fecal samples of a high Arctic seabird in Tunu (East Greenland) |
| title_full | Passing plastic: traces of plastic in the fecal samples of a high Arctic seabird in Tunu (East Greenland) |
| title_fullStr | Passing plastic: traces of plastic in the fecal samples of a high Arctic seabird in Tunu (East Greenland) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Passing plastic: traces of plastic in the fecal samples of a high Arctic seabird in Tunu (East Greenland) |
| title_short | Passing plastic: traces of plastic in the fecal samples of a high Arctic seabird in Tunu (East Greenland) |
| title_sort | passing plastic traces of plastic in the fecal samples of a high arctic seabird in tunu east greenland |
| topic | microplastics little auks plastic pollution Tunu (East Greenland) seabirds |
| url | https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/10.1139/as-2024-0014 |
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