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Using seabirds as bioindicators of marine plastic pollution requires an understanding of how the plastic retained in each species compares with that found in their environment. We show that brown skua Catharacta antarctica regurgitated pellets can be used to characterise plastics in four seabird taxa breeding in the central South Atlantic, even though skua pellets might underrepresent the smallest plastic items in their prey. Fregetta storm petrels ingested more thread-like plastics and white-faced storm petrels Pelagodroma marina more industrial pellets than broad-billed prions Pachyptila vittata and great shearwaters Ardenna gravis. Ingested plastic composition (type, colour and polymer) was similar to floating plastics in the region sampled with a 200 μm net, but storm petrels were better indicators of the size of plastics than prions and shearwaters. Given this information, plastics in skua pellets containing the remains of seabirds can be used to track long-term changes in floating marine plastics. • Seabird species differ in the types and colours of plastics they ingest at sea. • As a community, seabirds ingest plastics similar to those sampled at sea with surface nets. • Storm petrels are better indicators of the size of environmental plastics than prions and shearwaters. • Skua pellets containing the remains of seabirds can be used as biomonitors of marine plastics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water and soft drink bottles made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) sink at sea unless they contain trapped air, whereas their lids are made from polymers that float and can drift long distances. We sampled loose lids and bottles at 21 South African beaches to compare their origins. The proportions of foreign-made bottles and lids were correlated, and increased away from urban centres, indicating that much land-based litter strands close to source areas. Over 80 % of foreign-made drink bottles and 90 % of lids came from Asia, but most bottles were manufactured in China, Malaysia-Singapore and the UAE, and were dumped from ships. By comparison, most loose lids were in poor condition after being carried across the Indian Ocean from Indonesia by the South Equatorial Current. Reducing PET drink bottles at sea requires enforcement of regulations banning dumping at sea, whereas reducing their lids requires better control of littering in source countries. [Display omitted] • Proportions of locally-made bottles and lids are correlated and decrease with distance from urban centres. • This implies that most land-based litter strands close to source areas. • Most foreign drink bottles are manufactured in China; they outnumber Chinese lids 7:1. • Over 1000 lids from Indonesian drink bottles were found but no bottles. • Most foreign drink bottles are dumped from ships but most loose lids drift from SE Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a study about the geographic variation in the trophic ecology of the African black oystercatcher (ABO), an avian rocky shore predator, along the southern African coastline. Under the study, the trophic ecology of ABO which is also called Haematopus moquini is examined across the full extent of the breeding range in association with the spatial changes in the local assemblages of prey species living in its habitat and with the larger oceanic processes. Data on carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios depict the combination of large-scale patterns of primary productivity and prey assemblages. Tissue analysis suggest changes in intertidal nutrient quality associated with major oceanic influences as well as local anthropogenic perturbations.

The article discusses research on the utilization of stable isotopes of body feathers to investigate seasonal isotopic niche changes of four southern procellariiformes and the level to which individuals are specialised relative to their population within each season. It states that niche variation has important implications for ecological interactions and conservation biology. It stresses that the study highlights the utility of feather isotopic signature of albatrosses for determining trophic niche width (TNW) and points out the necessity to develop such new approaches to better depict niche variations at both population and individual levels.

Beaches are key attractions for tourism and recreation, and considerable effort is made to keep beaches clean, yet many beaches still have substantial litter loads. Lasting solutions to reduce the amounts of marine litter require an understanding of litter sources. We collected bottles and other single-use containers at 32 sites around the South African coast to infer their sources based on their age and country of manufacture. Bottle densities varied greatly among beaches (8–450 bottles·km−1), depending on proximity to local urban centres and beach cleaning frequency. Most bottles were plastic, despite well-developed recycling initiatives for PET and HDPE bottles in South Africa. Street litter was dominated by bottles made in South Africa (99%), but foreign-manufactured bottles comprised up to 74% of bottles at some beaches, with an increase from urban (4%) through semi-urban (24%) to remote beaches (45%). Most foreign bottles were PET drink bottles from China and other Asian countries, followed by South America and Europe, with little regional variation in the contribution from these sources. This fact, coupled with their recent manufacture dates (mainly <2 years old), indicates that most foreign PET drink bottles are dumped illegally from ships. By comparison, foreign HDPE bottles were more common along the southeast coast of South Africa than along the west coast, consistent with many of these bottles arriving by long-distance drift across the Indian Ocean from southeast Asia. The most common country of origin for these bottles was Indonesia, and most newly-arrived HDPE bottles were 4–6 years old. To tackle beach litter in South Africa we need to greatly reduce plastic leakage from land-based sources, both locally and in southeast Asia, as well as improve measures to prevent the illegal dumping of plastics and other persistent wastes from ships. [Display omitted] • Bottles from 78 countries were found on South African beaches. • Proportions of foreign bottles increase from urban (4%) to remote beaches (45%). • Most foreign PET bottles are dumped illegally from ships and come from Asia (China). • Many foreign HDPE bottles have drifted from southeast Asia, mainly Indonesia. • By knowing litter sources, we can better target mitigation measures. Bottles indicate that South African beach litter comes from diverse sources, including local, land-based sources, long-distance drift and illegal dumping from ships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marine litter has become a global issue with 'garbage patches' documented in all ocean gyres. The Pacific and Atlantic garbage patches have been well described, but there are few empirical data for the Indian Ocean. In the austral summer 2019–2020, we conducted an at-sea survey of macro-litter in the rarely investigated south-west Indian Ocean. Over 24 days, 1623 man-made items were observed including plastic fragments, packaging and fishing-related items during 216 h of observations covering 5464 km. More than 99% of the litter items were plastics of which almost 60% were white. Floating litter was patchily distributed with only five items (0.2%) recorded south of 40°S (0.1 items·km‐2). Half of the items were encountered over a two-day period south-east of Madagascar (30°S; 59–67°E; 75.2 items·km‐2). Our survey detected an accumulation of litter in the southern Indian Ocean and demonstrated that this area warrants more research. [Display omitted] • Visual survey of macro-litter in the southern Indian Ocean • A total of 1623 anthropogenic items observed over 5464 km • Almost half of items were plastic fragments <5 cm • Accumulation zone detected south-east of Madagascar • Increased pollution risk to protected megafauna and to fisheries [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]