Elsevier

Marine Pollution Bulletin

Volume 98, Issues 1–2, 15 September 2015, Pages 354-357
Marine Pollution Bulletin

Baseline
Characteristics of marine debris that entangle Australian fur seals (Arctocephalus pusillus doriferus) in southern Australia

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.05.053Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Plastic rope/twine and monofilament are the most common items entangling fur seals.

  • Seals get entangled in green items more than other colours.

  • Younger seals are entangled more often than adults.

Abstract

Marine debris is a global issue that can have devastating impacts on marine mammals. To understand the types of materials that result in entanglement and thus the potential impact of entangling items on marine wildlife, we analysed data collected from items in which Australian fur seals had been entangled in southern Victoria, Australia over a 15 year period. From 1997 to 2012, 138 entangling items were removed from seals. The majority of these entanglements were plastic twine or rope, and seals were entangled in green items more than in any other colour. In general, younger seals were more likely to be entangled than adults. Understanding the effects of marine debris entanglement on the Australian fur seal population can lead to more effective management of the sources of debris and the wildlife that interact with it.

Section snippets

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Shell’s Social Investment program and CSIRO’s Oceans and Atmosphere Flagship for financial support. We also thank Phillip Island Nature Parks and science educators participating in the Teachwild Program for their help with sorting entanglement sample items as well as R. McIntosh and an anonymous reviewer for constructive feedback on an earlier version of this manuscript.

References (31)

  • J.P. Croxall et al.

    Entanglement in man-made debris of Antarctic fur seals at Bird Island, South Georgia

    Mar. Mammal Sci.

    (1990)
  • Department of the Environment, Key Threatening Process – Marine Debris....
  • Department of the Environment – Injury and Fatality to Vertebrate Marine Life Caused By Ingestion of, or Entanglement...
  • Department of the Environment, Key Threatening Processes Under the EPBC Act....
  • S. Feldkamp

    The effects of net entanglement on the drag and power output of a Californian Sea Lion, Zalophus californianus

    Fisheries Bull.

    (1985)
  • Cited by (39)

    • Entanglement of Cape fur seals (Arctocephalus pusillus pusillus) at colonies in central Namibia

      2021, Marine Pollution Bulletin
      Citation Excerpt :

      Within the life cycle of Cape fur seals, there are periods in which interaction with marine waste is likely to be higher. Juveniles in this study exhibited the highest number of entanglements, corresponding with findings from similar studies (Croxall et al., 1990; Pemberton et al., 1992; Lawson et al., 2015). This may be attributed to a more curious nature in younger seals, whereby they likely ‘play’ with waste material like they would with kelp (Scordino, 1985).

    • Microplastics in the marine environment: Current trends in environmental pollution and mechanisms of toxicological profile

      2019, Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology
      Citation Excerpt :

      The 24.73% that were entangled had skin lesions with ulceration, necrotising myositis (death of local areas of muscle) and amputation of one or two flippers (Orós et al., 2005). There are numerous studies and reviews on the ingestions of plastic debris and entanglement in plastic bags, fishing gear (nets and ropes) and fiber ropes of dolphins (Denuncio et al., 2011; Di Beneditto and Ramos, 2014), seals (Bravo Rebolledo et al., 2013; Waluda and Staniland, 2013; Lawson et al., 2015; Cosgrove et al., 2016), Whale (Jacobsen et al., 2010; de Stephanis et al., 2013d; Baulch and Perry, 2014; Unger et al., 2016), sea snake (Udyawer et al., 2013), sea lion (Hamer et al., 2013; Page et al., 2004), leading to increase in morbidity and mortality of these marine animals. Numerous scientific reports on plastic entanglement and or ingestion by marine mega-fauna were mostly on marine mammals, sea turtles and sea birds.

    View all citing articles on Scopus
    View full text