Zoe Lucas

Monitoring persistent litter in the marine environment on Sable Island, Nova Scotia

Abstract Beach surveys of persistent litter were carried out on Sable Island, Canada, between 31 May 1984 and 10 September 1986, with supplementary observations to early 1991. Persistent litter found on Sable beaches comes from the ocean, and does not originate on the island itself. Deposition rates were fairly consistent from year to year, site to site, with some seasonal variation. A total of 11 183 persistent litter items were collected and sorted, representing 219 items/km/month. Ninety-two per cent of this total was plastic material. Types of litter found include tampon dispensers, polystyrene cups and packing materials, plastic containers for food, oil and cleansers, polyethylene bags and sheet, liquor and soft drink bottles, fluorescent tubes and incandescent bulbs, plastic strapping, polypropylene rope, and large amounts of fishing equipment. These items are generated by various marine activities, particularly the fishing industry. Entanglement of two species of seal and three species of seabird, and ingestion of plastic and latex by leatherback turtles, was observed. While litter in Scotian Shelf waters presents hazards to all marine animals, it does not appear to have a serious impact on seal populations at this time.

Plastic ingestion by fulmars and shearwaters at Sable Island, Nova Scotia, Canada

Plastic pollution is widespread in the marine environment, and plastic ingestion by seabirds is now widely reported for dozens of species. Beached Northern Fulmars, Great Shearwaters, Sooty Shearwaters and Corys Shearwaters are found on Sable Island, Nova Scotia, Canada regularly, and they can be used to assess plastic pollution. All species except Corys Shearwaters contained plastic debris in their gastrointestinal tracts. Northern Fulmars, Sooty Shearwaters and Great Shearwaters all showed high prevalence of plastic ingestion (>72%), with Northern Fulmars having the highest number and mass of plastics among the species examined. There was no difference in plastic ingestion between sexes or age classes. In all species user plastics made up the majority of the pieces found, with industrial pellets representing only a small proportion in the samples. Sable Island could be an important monitoring site for plastic pollution in Atlantic Canada.

HEALTH STATUS OF HARP SEALS (PHOCA GROENLANDICA) AND HOODED SEALS (CYSTOPHORA CRISTATA) ON SABLE ISLAND, NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA, CONCURRENT WITH THEIR EXPANDING RANGE

Beach surveys for harp (Phoca groenlandica) and hooded (Cystophora cristata) seals documented a dramatic increase in their numbers on Sable Island in mid 1990s. In the 1980s, no more than five animals of both species were observed on this island each year, however, during late 1994 to 1998, 1,191 harp and 870 hooded seals, mostly young animals, were recorded. Although some of these seals had been killed by sharks, most (roughly 75%) were found alive or as intact carcasses on the beach, and some of the live seals were later found dead. Emaciation/ starvation was considered the primary cause of death in seals that were not obviously killed by sharks. Factors that may have compounded this poor body condition included gastric impaction with abnormal ingesta, hemorrhagic diathesis possibly induced by parasitic migration and secondary vasculitis, and stomatitis (in hooded seals only). Some harp and hooded seals expanding their range in recent years may be unable to feed successfully, although the reasons for this are unclear.

Large increases of harp seals (Phoca groenlandica) and hooded seals (Cystophora cristata) on Sable Island, Nova Scotia, since 1995

Abstract. Beach surveys for harp (Phoca groenlandica) and hooded (Cystophora cristata) seals documented a dramatic increase in their numbers on Sable Island in the mid-1990s. From late 1994 to 1998, 1,191 harp and 870 hooded seals, mostly young animals, were recorded on the island whereas, in the 1980s, no more than 5 animals of both species were observed each year. Of the 2,061 harp and hooded seals examined, 41.7% were found alive, 26.7% were killed by sharks, and 31.6% were found dead but intact. This increase in numbers of harp and hooded seals on Sable Island, which is south of their historic northern range, is consistent with the recent increase of extralimital occurrences of these species along the east coast of North America. However, the large number of seals recorded in this study provides more information on their demography than has previously been possible.

New records of mites (Arachnida: Acari) from Sable Island, Nova Scotia, Canada

The first investigations of the mite fauna of Sable Island, Nova Scotia, Canada, are reported. Fourteen species have been found. Uropoda orbicularis. (Muller) (Uropodidae) and Scarabaspis inexpectatus. (Oudemans) (Eviphididae) are newly recorded for North America, Macrocheles nemerdarius. Krantz and Whitaker (Macrochelidae) is newly recorded for Canada, and Trichoribates striatus. Hammer (Ceratozetidae) is recorded for the first time south of the subarctic zone. Colonization, dispersal, and the zoogeographic origins of the fauna are discussed in the context of the biological, geological, and human history of the island.