Seabirds and plastic pollution in the Russian seas - first national review on the problem

Abstract

**Abstract:** Plastic pollution of the World Ocean is widely recognized major and increasing threat to the marine environment, and the seabirds are among the most affected groups of marine biota. Recent studies revealed global distribution of plastic, both macro- and micro-plastics, including most remote areas of the Arctic Ocean. Several recently published papers summarized information on the plastic and seabirds in the Arctic and adjacent areas, and emphasized poor coverage of the topic and lack of the data. Russia is washed by 12 seas and has longest sea shores inhabited by globally important populations of seabirds, but information about plastic pollution in the Russian waters, especially in relation to marine birds and their habitats is virtually absent. Here we present first national overview summarizing information on plastic pollution of the coastal habitats of marine birds and their interaction with plastic debris and microplastic. Our review covers Russian Arctic and seas from the Baltic Sea to and Far East seas. Plastic debris presents in coastal habitats of all studied seas including shores of the most remote high-arctic islands. Data on entanglement or plastic incorporation into the nests of marine birds, collected through interviews and dedicated surveys, are summarized and mapped. The most impacted nesting colonies and affected species are highlighted. All available data on digestion of the plastic particles observed in the Russian seas are compiled. Geographical patterns and possible sources of plastic in seabird habitats are discussed. Possibilities and scopes of further studies and monitoring of the plastic impact on marine birds as well as use of seabirds as fro monitoring of plastic pollution in Russian seas as part of the circumpolar / global monitoring schemes are assessed. The work is partly supported by AMBI / CAFF project Plastics and Seabirds: Habitat mitigation and Russian-Norwegian project MALINOR. **Authors:** Maria Gavrilo¹, Ekaterina Tolmacheva², Larisa Zelenskaya³, Yuri Artyukhin⁴, Yulia Bublichenko⁵, Uliana Babiy⁶, Yulia Bogomolova⁷, Alexander Cherenkov⁸, Elena Golubova³, Dmitry Pilipenko⁹, Olga Prokopenko³, Vladimir Semashko¹⁰, Irina Utekhina¹¹, Grigory Tertitskiy¹², Eugene Syroechkovskiy¹³ ¹Association Maritime Heritage, ²Kandalaksha State Nature Reserve, ³Institute for Biological Problems of the North RAS, ⁴Pacific Institute for Geography RAS, ⁵Saint-Petersburg Scientific Centre of RAS, ⁶Wrangel State Nature Reserve, ⁷Nenets State Nature Reserve, ⁸Moscow State University, ⁹Commander Islands State Nature Reserve, ¹⁰retired, ¹¹Magadan State Nature Reserve, ¹²Institute for Geography RAS, ¹³BirdsRussia