Linking plastic ingestion to chance of death in seabirds, marine mammals, and sea turtles

What is it about?

There is evidence that plastic ingestion kills marine animals, but the risk plastic ingestion poses is still poorly understood. We collected data from more than 10,000 animal autopsies to estimate the likelihood of death based on the amount of various plastic materials (hard, soft, rubber and fishing debris) in the gut of seabirds, marine mammals, and sea turtles. We found that between 6 and 405 pieces of plastic in the gut of animals led to a 90% chance of death depending on the plastic and animal type. At the low end, just 6 pieces of rubber, each on average smaller than the size of a pea, led to a 90% chance of death in seabirds. Our findings can be used to better understand the risk that eating plastic poses to marine animals and to inform future policies to address plastic pollution.

Featured Image

Photo by Wexor Tmg on Unsplash

Photo by Wexor Tmg on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Plastic pollution is a global threat that continues to increase in our ocean as plastic production grows exponentially. This plastic poses a significant threat to the health of marine ecosystems. To address this, countries around the world are working to implement regulations and management strategies to address plastic pollution. Our findings provide important information to help inform policies that can address the most dangerous plastics to marine animals and move us towards developing science-based targets for addressing plastic pollution.