We investigated the plastics ingested by short-tailed shearwaters, Puffinus tenuirostris, that were acciden-
tally caught during experimental fishing in the North Pacific Ocean in 2003 and 2005. The mean mass of
plastics found in the stomach was 0.23 g per bird (n = 99). Plastic mass did not correlate with body
weight. Total PCB (sum of 24 congeners) concentrations in the abdominal adipose tissue of 12 birds ran-
ged from 45 to 529 ng/g-lipid. Although total PCBs or higher-chlorinated congeners, the mass of ingested
plastic correlated positively with concentrations of lower-chlorinated congeners. The effects of toxic
chemicals present in plastic debris on bird physiology should be investigated.