ABSTRACT
Plastic pollution is of significant concern in the marine environment given the increasing production and use of plastics, coupled with the generally poor biodegradability of the material. The majority of ingested plastic is generally recovered from the ventriculus on postmortem examination of shearwaters, with smaller amounts in the proventriculus. Ingestion of plastics by birds has the potential to cause a number of lethal and sub-lethal effects, including reduced body condition or growth rates via ingestion of material with no nutritional value or by reducing the capacity of the stomach to contain food before satiation occurs. The greatest proportion of plastics observed within the gastrointestinal tract was light in color, with white being the most commonly recovered, and dark-hued plastic the least. Ingestion of plastic can potentially impair the health of seabirds via direct damage, obstruction of normal rates of food passage, leaching of toxicants, or by a reduction in functional volume simulating satiation and, therefore, reducing food intake.
