Oil, paint, marine debris and fishing gear associated with seabirds at Bird Island, South Georgia, 1997/98

This report describes and quantifies the occurrence of oil, paint, marine debris and fishing gear associated with seabirds at South Georgia. In this, the fifth year of standardised recording, a marked increase in the quantity of plastic debris associated with seabirds was evident; quantities of fishing gear remained within the levels of previous years for all species (although the number of squid jigs associated with grey-headed albatrosses increased); feather soiling (by oil and paint) was observed on two wandering albatrosses; human food waste was associated with wandering albatross and plastic debris with black-browed albatross for the first time in this study.