2023 Volume 72 Issue 1 Pages 57-66
We examined stomach contents of 96 Laysan Phoebastria immutabilis and 25 Black-footed Albatrosses P. nigripes caught incidentally in the western North Pacific during 2014–2018. A higher proportion of Laysan Albatross (91%) than Black-footed Albatross (48%) was found to have plastics in their stomachs as has been reported also in the central North Pacific. The mean mass and size of each plastic fragment or pellets were both greater for Laysan (0.073 g, 8.25 mm) than for Black-footed (0.031 g, 5.86 mm) albatross. The difference in the plastic loads between albatross species could not be explained by their overall distributions or diets. The plastic loads of these two albatross species in the northern North Pacific is greater than that in albatrosses caught incidentally or stranded ashore in the western South Pacific, so it is a matter of concern.
