Claim that seabirds mistake plastic rubbish for food ‘oversimplified’

Recent research suggested that marine birds such as albatrosses and petrels are attracted to the smell of dimethyl sulfide (DMS), a compound produced by phytoplankton but also by plastic debris. Matthew Savoca and his colleagues at the University of California, Davis claimed that there was evidence that certain seabirds use DMS as an olfactory cue to identify sources of food, resulting in them eating plastic waste. But this finding has now been challenged by another team.