Quantifying Direct and Indirect Evidence of Plastic Ingestion by the Critically Endangered Newell's Shearwater (Puffinus Newelli) in the Hawaiian Islands
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Brown, Sydney Mae
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Marine Science
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Marine plastic debris is a pervasive pollutant found throughout the global ocean. Due to the wide range of plastic pollution in the ocean, hundreds of marine species are impacted via entanglement, ingestion, or both. The Newell's shearwater (Puffinus newelli) is a critically endangered species endemic to the Hawaiian Islands, which has yet to be assessed for plastic impacts, despite ingesting this pollutant. This thesis updates plastic ingestion rates (incidence and loads) for this species and investigated potential impacts in integrating four novel approaches: (i) plastic identification via attenuated total reflectance Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy; (ii) weighing and analyzing heart and spleens in relation to plastic loads; (iii) generalized linear model analysis of plastic ingestion drivers; and (iv) gas-chromatography mass spectrometry of preen oil for contaminants. Moreover, this research explores the potential use of a closely-related species (the wedge-tailed shearwater Ardenna pacifica) as an indicator of plastic pollution in the Newell's shearwater via the inter-specific comparison of plastic ingestion drivers and the analysis of preen gland oil. This thesis is the first to document plastic ingestion in adult Newell's, and the presence of PCBs, DDE, and BUVs in their preen oil. On a qualitative level via niche comparison and a quantitative level via statistical modeling, wedge-tailed shearwaters can be used to indicate plastic ingestion rates and impacts in Newell's shearwaters. USFWS acknowledges the need for Newell's shearwater protection and conservation efforts, but fails to recognize the impacts of plastic and persistent organic pollutants (POPs) on the species. Thus, it is my hope that this study will motivate an update in the UFSWS recovery plan for the Newell's shearwater that address plastic ingestion, POPs contamination and their sublethal impacts. Ignorance cannot lead to negligence for the conservation of this critically endangered species.
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Hawaii Pacific University