Elisa L. Bravo Rebolledo

Bureau Waardenburg bv · Division of Bird Ecology

Humans impact natural systems at an unprecedented rate. The North Sea is one of the regions in the world with the highest levels of anthropogenic activity. Here, the harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) is an abundant species and is often regarded as an ecosystem sentinel. A post-mortem surveillance program was established in the Netherlands aimed a...

A sample of 145 stomachs from fulmars hunted 100 km offshore east Greenland 64° 30′ N in early June 2015 was analysed for abundance of plastic litter. Overall, 86% of the stomachs contained plastics with an average of 13.5 particles, and 0.14 g per stomach. A proportion of 42% of the stomachs exceeded the level of 0.1 g plastic, whereas the interna...

Baleen from mysticete whales is a well-preserved proteinaceous material that can be used to identify migrations and feeding habits for species whose migration pathways are unknown. Analysis of δ ¹³ C and δ ¹⁵ N values from bulk baleen have been used to infer migration patterns for individuals. However, this approach has fallen short of identifying...

Atlantic puffins are scarce winter visitors in the Dutch sector of the North Sea (Dutch Continental Shelf, DCS). In February 2020, high numbers were noted during the seabird and marine mammal aerial surveys from the MWTL monitoring scheme. A distance sampling analysis suggests that nearly 10,000 Atlantic puffins must have been present in the DCS, w...

Although ingestion of plastic by tubenosed seabirds has been documented regularly, identification of the polymer composition of these plastics has rarely been described. Polymer assessment may assist in identifying sources and may indicate risks from additives occurring in specific types of polymers. Using known test materials, two identification m...

The death and behaviour prior to death of a bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) known by the name of "Zafar" created significant national and international public interest. The animal was first observed in the Netherlands on the 2nd of May 2020, closely following a boat from Brittany, France, all the way into the port of Amsterdam after passing...

Baleen from mysticete whales is a well-preserved proteinaceous material that can be used to identify migrations and feeding habits for species whose migration pathways are unknown. Analysis of δ13C and δ15N from bulk baleen has been used to infer migration patterns for individuals. However, this approach has fallen short of identifying migrations b...

Marine litter is a pollution problem affecting thousands of marine species in all the world's seas andoceans. Marine litter, in particular plastic, has negative impacts on marine wildlife primarily due toingestion and entanglement. Since most marine mammal species negatively interact with marine litter, afirst workshop under the framework of the Eu...

Seabird and Marine Mammal monitoring in the Dutch North Sea

this file version holds the online supplement in the same pdf file

Stomach contents of harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) collected in the Netherlands between 2003 and 2013 were inspected for the presence of plastic and other man-made litter. In 654 stomach samples the frequency of occurrence of plastic litter was 7% with less than 0.5% additional presence of nonsynthetic man-made litter. However, we show that...

Plastic pollution has become one of the largest environmental challenges we currently face. The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) has listed it as a critical problem, comparable to climate change, demonstrating both the scale and degree of the environmental problem. Mortalities due to entanglement in plastic fishing nets and bags have been...

In studies of plastic ingestion by marine wildlife, visual separation of plastic particles from gastrointestinal tracts or their dietary content can be challenging. Earlier studies have used solutions to dissolve organic materials leaving synthetic particles unaffected. However, insufficient tests have been conducted to ensure that different catego...

Monitoring data for plastic ingestion by fulmars beached on the Dutch coast show slow but significant decline in plastic mass in their stomachs over the period 2006-2015. The current situation however, with 53% of birds having more than 0.1g plastic in the stomach, is still far off the policy target made by North Sea governments of reducing that pe...

30 sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) stranded along the coasts of the North Sea between January and February 2016. The gastro-intestinal tracts of 22 of the carcasses were investigated. Marine debris including netting, ropes, foils, packaging material and a part of a car were found in nine of the 22 individuals. Here we provide details about th...

Long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas) are rare visitors to the southern North Sea, but recently two individual strandings occurred on the Dutch coast. Both animals shared the same, unusual cause of death: asphyxiation from a common sole (Solea solea) stuck in their nasal cavity. This is a rare cause of death in cetaceans. Whilst asphyxiatio...

In this review we report new findings concerning interaction between marine debris and wildlife. Deleterious effects and consequences of entangle-ment, consumption and smothering are highlighted and discussed. The number of species known to have been affected by either entanglement or ingestion of plastic debris has doubled since 1997, from 267 to...

Marine filter feeders are exposed to microplastic because of their selection of small particles as food source. Baleen whales feed by filtering small particles from large water volumes. Macroplastic was found in baleen whales before. This study is the first to show the presence of microplastic in intestines of a baleen whale (Megaptera novaeangliae...

Fulmars are purely offshore foragers that ingest all sorts of litter from the sea surface and do not regurgitate poorly degradable diet components like plastics. Initial size of ingested debris is usually in the range of millimetres to centimeters, but may be considerably larger for flexible items as for instance threadlike or sheetlike materials....

De Vogelrichtlijn (VR) verplicht Nederland tot het in stand houden of in gunstige staat van instandhouding brengen van alle in het wild voorkomende vogels. Over de staat van instandhouding wordt eens in de drie jaar aan Brussel gerapporteerd. Voor de beoordeling van de staat van instandhouding van vogelsoorten is onder andere informatie gewenst met...

Antarctic krill Euphausia superba (here after ‘krill’) occur in regions undergoing rapid environmental change, particularly loss of winter sea ice. During recent years, harvesting of krill has increased, possibly enhancing stress on krill and Antarctic ecosystems. Here we review the overall impact of climate change on krill and Antarctic ecosystems...

Antarctic krill Euphausia superba (hereafter ‘krill’) occur in regions undergoing rapid environmental change, particularly loss of winter sea ice. During recent years, harvesting of krill has increased, possibly enhancing stress on krill and Antarctic ecosystems. Here we review the overall impact of climate change on krill and Antarctic ecosystems,...