"Shame And Anger" For Scientists Finding Plastic Killing Rare Birds Even In Remote Antarctic Seas

[hatrack]

EDIT

In a particularly moving scene, Dr Lucy Quinn, a zoologist, is seen checking albatross chicks on Bird Island where she was the British Antarctic Survey’s winter manager for more than two years.

One chick that Dr Quinn found dead and later dissected was killed because a plastic toothpick that it swallowed had pierced its stomach. Others had regurgitated plastic items including cling film, food packaging, cutlery and parts of bottles.

Dr Quinn told me: “I feel real shame and anger that it’s humans who have caused this problem. "It’s really sad because you get to know the birds and how long it takes the parents, away for ten days at a time, to collect food for their chicks and what they bring back is plastic. "And what’s sad is that the plague of plastic is as far-reaching as these seemingly pristine environments."

EDIT

It's not known how many albatross chicks in Antarctica die from plastic pollution every year – it's thought to be fewer than the losses suffered by Laysan albatrosses on Midway Atoll in the Pacific . But on Bird Island, predators often eat dead chicks before the researchers can reach them – and the suspicion is that the effect of the plastic goes beyond the direct killing of seabirds. According to Dr Quinn, the threat is more insidious, weakening birds as they waste energy trying to digest plastic, which has no nutritional value, and potentially poisoning them as chemicals are released when the plastic breaks down in their stomachs.

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http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-42221262

[CrispyQ]

1. Chris Jordan - Midway: Message from the Gyre

http://www.chrisjordan.com/gallery/midway/#CF000313%2018x24

[sinkingfeeling]

2. We were asked to pick up anything plastic we came across at each

landing spot during our visit to the Falklands (breeding ground for brown browed albatross) and South Georgia (thousands of Antarctic birds, seals, and penguins). We collected over 60 pounds in just a couple of days.
Most was located along the shoreline, coming in from the ocean.

[2naSalit]

3. K&R for exposure

[Nitram]

4. Exactly what I feel.

We may be remembered as the civilization that clogged the ocean with plastic.