Even Small Amounts of Ocean Plastic Can Affect Petrel Chicks

Ocean plastic pollution is accidentally on the menu for southern giant petrel chicks. Even small nibbles of it may affect their physiology during development, according to a study from the University of California, Davis, and Argentina's National Research Council (CONICET).

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Southern giant petrels are not of high conservation concern globally, but they are particularly susceptible and useful sentinels for understanding how ocean plastic pollution affects wildlife. 

With a range stretching from Antarctica to Chile, Argentina, Africa and Australia, these large birds frequently forage at the sea surface, where floating plastic tends to accumulate. Adults can accidentally transfer plastic they eat to their chicks when they regurgitate food.

The study, published in the journal Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, detected plastics in more than 71% of chicks. This suggests that most petrel chicks are inadvertently fed plastic by their parents.

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