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Shared PlanetOcean Plastic and SeabirdsExamining plastic found in seabirds

Scientists are dissecting dead seabirds to study how much plastic they have ingested

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Carrier bags and polystyrene are central to what she believes is a 'plague of plastic' in the world's seas and oceans

Picture: Trai Anfield / BBC

  • Cromarty Beach is the home of the Lighthouse Field Station research centre
  • Dr Lucy Quinn carried out research on behalf of the University of Aberdeen into the levels of plastic found in fulmars
  • Scientists have found that 95% of fulmars dissected have plastic in their stomach
  • Carrier bags and polystyrene are central to what she believes is a 'plague of plastic' in the world's seas and oceans
  • Researchers dissect seabirds to monitor levels of ingested plastic and assess if plastic was the cause of their death
  • In this dissection, Dr Quinn and fellow scientist Ewan Edwards found an egg in a fulmar that died whilst pregnant
  • Plastic is often ingested when it becomes tangled in a seabird's food or when a bird mistakes it for part of its diet
  • This shows how much plastic a human would need to have in their stomach to have the same proportion as most fulmars

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