Seabird Pollution: Geir Wing Gabrielsen

Geir Wing Gabrielsen is a senior scientist and professor at UNIS. He first visited Svalbard in 1979 to study the physiology of Svalbard ptarmigan in Adventdalen, and returned in 1981 to investigate the behavior, ecology, physiology, and ecotoxicology of Arctic birds in Kongsfjorden. His early fascination with how animals adapt to the extreme environment of Svalbard has driven his research on Arctic birds, including species like ptarmigan, common eider, and kittiwakes.


What seabird species can be encountered in Svalbard?

It is estimated that a total of 3 million pairs of seabirds are breeding in Svalbard. 

Breeding birds in the Barents Sea Region include both migrants that leave the Barents Sea in winter, as well as species that reside permanently, on a year-round basis. Prominent migrants include common eiders, black guillemots, Atlantic puffins, black-legged kittiwakes, ivory gull and little auks.

Prominent resident birds are northern fulmars, glaucous gulls, Brünnich’s guillemots and common guillemots.

What are the changes in seabird communities in the last 50 years?

“During the last 20-30 years, many seabird populations (Brünnich guillemots, kittiwakes, little auks, glaucous gull and ivory gulls) have been declining, both in Norway and across the entire Northeast Atlantic. As a result, more than half of the Norwegian seabird species, like kittiwakes and puffins, are now listed in the national red list.”

Climate change is an important driver for the decrease of seabird populations. The High Arctic and the Barents Sea area are experiencing some of the fastest increases in air and ocean temperatures, leading to the rapid disappearance of sea ice.

The increase in ocean temperature is partly caused by an increasing inflow of warm Atlantic waters. Such environmental changes and “Atlantification” indicate that the Svalbard marine environment is moving toward a more boreal state.

Ivory gull.

What factors are affecting the populations?

“Atlantification”, with the change of the diet, from eating polar species (polar cod and the amphipod) to eating Atlantic food items (capelin and herring) are positive for some seabird species, as kittiwakes and puffins, while it is not good news for ivory gull which are very dependent on finding their food in ice filled waters (mainly polar cod).

For little auks, who mainly feed on zooplankton, the lack of energy rich food, as Calanus hyperboreus and Calanus glacialis, means that they are now feeding on Calanus finmarchicus. This species has a much lower energy content which has implications for chick growth and chick survival.

When it comes to anthropogenic influence, high levels of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are found in glaucous gull, ivory gull and great skua feeding at higher trophic level (eating eggs, chicks and adults of other seabird species and carcasses of seals). Studies from Svalbard show that POPs in these species are affecting their hormone-, enzyme- and immune systems.

When it comes to microplastic pollution in the sea, the northern fulmar is most affected. During the last 10 years there has been an increase in the number of plastic items found in the stomach of adult fulmars at Svalbard.

Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)

Legacy POPs include PCB, DDE, HCB, HCH and oxychlordane while emerging POPs include brominated, fluorinated and chlorinated paraffins.

How polluted is Svalbard?

Most seabird species on Svalbard have low background level of POPs, including legacy and emerging POPs

Species that are feeding at higher trophic level (such as polar bears, arctic fox, glaucous gull, great skua and ivory gull) have high level of POPs.

In communities such as Longyearbyen, Barentsburg, Ny-Ålesund and Pyramiden, local pollution has been documented mainly related to old “sins” from mining, infrastructure and industrial activities.

How do the pollutants get to the High Arctic?

Pollutants are coming from industrial areas in North America, Europe, and Asia. The northern hemisphere, due to higher industrial activity, releases more pollutants compared to the southern hemisphere.

POPs from mid-latitude regions can reach the Arctic via atmospheric pathways in a few days. They are carried as gases or aerosols, or they are adsorbed by particles in the air, depending on the vapor pressure of the contaminants, their solubility in water and their partition coefficients. Once in the Arctic, the pollutants condense due to the low temperature and are deposited onto soil, vegetation, lakes and the ocean.

Atmospheric transport of contaminants into the Arctic follows the seasonal variation in the storm track. POPs carried by ocean currents are supplied by atmospheric deposition, rivers and other run-off.

Transport with ocean currents from mid latitudes to the Arctic is slow and takes several years. The most important routes of entry and exit are the Fram Strait and the Barents Sea; the flow through the Bering Strait is small by comparison.

A third way of transporting POPs is via sea ice. Russian rivers that are connected to polar ocean are transporting pollutants which are being bound to the ice in the polar basin. Most of the sea ice from the polar basin enters the main melting areas east of Svalbard and along the East Greenland coast.

A different pathway for POPs into the Arctic is transport via migratory fish, marine mammals and birds. These animals can potentially accumulate pollutants during their winter feeding south of the Arctic and subsequently release them into the arctic food web during summer.

What are the effects of microplastic pollution on seabirds?

Fulmar fledglings, which stay 50-60 days on the nest site before flying to the sea, receive food from their parents by regurgitation.

In a new study of fulmar chicks in Kongsfjorden in September 2023 showed a record high amount of plastic in their stomachs. 100 % of the analyzed chicks had microplastic in their stomach, with an average of 96 pieces in each bird. In one chick stomach 402 pieces of plastic were found.

So, what is the impact of plastic ingestion? Both toxicological and physical impacts are expected but more evidence is needed.

Some studies have reported tissue puncturing and other tissue damage such as collagenous thickening or disorganization of the proventriculus submucosa and fibrosis, and even though uncommonly observed, mechanical impacts do occur.

Microplastic is also a vector of chemicals. When floating in the sea a biofilm is formed around the plastic. This biofilm constitutes of additives from the plastic production and chemicals found in seawater. These chemicals (i.e. phthalates) can have health effects on animals eating plastic.

Chick’s stomache with over 400 pieces of plastic. Photo France Collard

How is the discovery of mercury in seabirds affecting these birds?

Coal burning, incineration of waste, and industrial processes are the main sources of mercury to the atmosphere. During the past 10-20 years, the amount of mercury released globally has increased mainly because of the increasing use of coal in Asia.

Through a variety of natural processes elemental mercury is converted to methyl mercury which is highly toxic to all organisms. Being a lipophilic compound, it accumulates in nervous tissue, organs, muscles and feathers.

In seabirds, mercury in eggs or embryos can cause reproductive failure or, at best, a lowered rate of growth and development. High concentration typically causes erratic behavior, suppression of appetite and weight loss.

Outside the Arctic, some seabird species show indications of cellular-level kidney damage and the concentration in some arctic species is sufficiently high to raise concern.

How are flame retardants affecting marine wildlife?

The annual usage of flame retardants (BFRs) in the world has increased in recent years.

Generally, BFRs are highly lipophilic and resistant to degradation. They are therefore likely to accumulate in food webs. It has been documented that penta-, octa- and deca-BDEs have properties that make them hazardous to animals.

The concentrations of brominated flame retardants were high in glaucous gulls from Bjørnøya in 1990s, yet the concentrations today are generally lower because of regulation under the Stockholm Convention.

Flame Retardants (BRFs)

BFRs are used in electronic equipment such as computers and television sets, and in clothing, cars and airplanes. Humans presumably absorb BFRs emitted from electronic circuitry boards, plastic computer parts and cabinets.

What is bioaccumulation?

Free-ranging marine animals are at risk of being exposed to contaminants from several sources simultaneously. The accumulation of contaminants in aquatic organisms from all possible routes of chemical exposure (dietary absorption, transport across the respiratory surface, dermal absorption and inhalation) approaching a concentration that exceeds that in water is known as bioaccumulation.

The process during which only chemicals in the water are taken up by the aquatic organisms, leading to a concentration higher than that in the surrounding water, is known as bioconcentration. As a rule, bioconcentration occurs in phytoplankton or laboratory animals exclusively exposed to waterborne chemicals. Most POPs are relatively resistant to biodegradation, thus they bio accumulate through food webs.

When POP concentrations in an animal exceed the concentration in its diet, the process is termed biomagnification, which is particularly evident in the arctic marine environment due to the efficient transfer of lipid-soluble POPs.

POPs concentrations in arctic marine fauna are highest in top predators, such as polar bears, arctic foxes, killer whales, great black-backed gulls, glaucous gulls and great skuas. The POP concentrations reported from these species exceed threshold levels associated with reproductive, immunosuppressive and neuro behavioral effects in laboratory animals and wildlife species.

Are there changes in foraging behavior due to pollutant exposure?

“Atlantification” alter the diet composition for Arctic breeding seabirds. Seabirds in the Svalbard area are now feeding more on Atlantic species. Since Atlantic species have higher POP levels than polar species it is suggested that seabirds and marine mammals living in the Svalbard area will be more exposed to pollutants in the years to come.  

How do you monitor pollution levels in Svalbard seabirds?

Every year we collect eggs, blood and feather samples from different seabird species in Kongsfjorden and Bjørnøya. These samples are analyzed for legacy and emerging contaminants in accredited laboratories.

Our studies show that regulated chemicals. like PCB, DDE, dioxins and some pesticides, under the Stockholm Convention are decreasing in the environment.

As part of our monitoring work at Svalbard we also collect samples to be used in non-target analysis of new not identified chemicals. The finding of new increasing chemicals in the Arctic food webs is of great importance to remove toxic chemicals from the market.

Results from our studies in the Arctic are being implemented and used both by the Stockholm Convention and Minamata Convention on Mercury.

How is research addressing the effects of multiple pollutants?

Arctic animals are exposed to a cocktail of pollutants. When it comes to effect studies on   seabirds it will be important in the future to do modelling on the time series to determine which chemicals are the main drivers for effects of pollution. Multi-statistical analysis will be an important part of this work to determine which toxic chemicals are the reason for the observed effects.

Also, many species are exposed to multi stress, where factors as climate change, pollutants, harvesting, tourism and diseases, influence seabird populations.

In the years to come statistical analysis of time series will be important to determine the most important factor influencing seabird populations on Svalbard.

Northern fulmar. Photo: Geir Gabrielsen

How effective are regulatory measures to prevent seabird pollution?

Today’s system, which include reporting of pollutants to Norwegian authorities, such as the Polar Institute, and the Norwegian Environment Agency, and to AMAP (under the Arctic Council), the Stockholm Convention and the Minamata Convention, are important elements to secure effective regulatory measures when it comes to preventing seabird pollution in the Arctic.

Are there any projects in this area that you want to highlight?

The establishment of the SEAPOP and SEATRACK programs in Norway will be very important in the years to comes to identify the migration routes and wintering area for seabirds from Svalbard. Data from these programs will be of great help for the interpretation of pollution data for different seabird species. 

What message would you like to give to those exploring Svalbard?

Svalbard nature is facing many environmental challenges in the years to come. It will be important to reduce the impact on seabird populations from anthropogenic sources.

Establishment of nature reserves/bird sanctuaries are important regulatory mechanisms to reduce the pressure on seabird populations. Reduced disturbance by humans during breeding period is also a regulatory mechanism to protect seabird populations.

“For those exploring Svalbard it will be important to obtain proper knowledge about Svalbard nature to reduce the pressure on breeding birds.

Educated guides and the establishment of a knowledge base for guides will be important when it comes to better management of seabird populations on Svalbard.”


Last update: 06. February 2025