We’re leaning about seabird conservation issues this month. Seabirds face a range of dangers, including plastic debris in the ocean.
Plastic eaten by albatross chick: © ecogreen4us, Creative Commons.
How much plastic do you have in your life? How many bottle tops do you throw away a week? The oceans are full of floating plastic debris. Seabirds mistake these plastic items as food, and eat them.
For example, albatross chicks on Midway Island (Hawaii) have been fed plastic by their parents and are dying because their stomachs are full of plastic and they have no room for real food. Read more at Midway Journey.
Many plastics also contain harmful chemicals, such as phthalates, that can interfere with the reproduction system of the birds that eat them.
Chris Jordan is an artist who has been taking photos of dead albatross full of plastic. These photos are incredible; look how many pieces of plastic are in these stomachs! These images tell us just how bad the plastic debris problem is.
Learn more at:
Plastic Oceans
NOAA Marine Debris
5 Gyres
Alaska Center for Coastal Studies
Watch a short Hawaiian marine debris movie