Plastics in the Gut's of Leach's Storm Petrels in Humboldt County, California

Presentation Year

2022

College or Department

College of Natural Resources & Sciences

Short Description of your Research or Creative Project (700 characters or less)

For this project, we looked at the plastics that were found in the Guts of Leach's Strom Petrels in Humboldt County, CA. In 2020, 57 of these storm petrels were found dead of natural causes and stored at Cal Poly Humboldt. In my project, I analyze if these storm petrels had plastics in their stomachs at the time of their death, and if so, how much plastic. This is the first of such studies done on Leach's Storm Petrels on the Pacific Coast. The results help to contribute to the ever-growing knowledge of how plastics in our oceans are affecting wildlife.

Permission to Publish Work

Yes