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Plastic In Our Oceans

It’s hard to imagine the environmental impact created by items we use everyday. Lighters, bottles and other things we use often find their way into our waterways. There are islands of plastic that can be deadly to bird and fish populations. Even in remote areas of the earth, the effects of floating plastic can be seen.

These photographs of albatross chicks were made in September 2009 on Midway Atoll, a tiny stretch of sand and coral near the middle of the North Pacific. The nesting babies are fed bellies-full of plastic by their parents, who soar out over the vast polluted ocean collecting what looks to them like food to bring back to their young. On this diet of human trash, every year tens of thousands of albatross chicks die on Midway from starvation, toxicity, and choking.
To document this phenomenon as faithfully as possible, not a single piece of plastic in any of these photographs was moved, placed, manipulated, arranged, or altered in any way. These images depict the actual stomach contents of baby birds in one of the world’s most remote marine sanctuaries, more than 2000 miles from the nearest continent.
~Chris Jordan
October 2009

more via Discovery

5 Comments

December 7, 2009 by Clive Mathias

Filed Under: Entertainment, News, Non-Fishing
Tagged: albatross, Birds, Gyre, Plastic, Polution, skeletons, Waste

5 Comments on “Plastic In Our Oceans...”

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Chris
7 months, 3 weeks ago #
Finally!
I have been ranting about this for ages to everyone I know.
I often come home with more plastic refuse in my bucket than fish! Constantly picking up other’s discarded fishing lines and pet bottles, shopping bags etc…
Every little effort helps.
Jonathon Marshall
7 months, 3 weeks ago #
Agreed, this is a serious problem. Made all the worse by our current methods of production and consumption. Don’t forget we’re all part of a food chain, so when the fish are eating this stuff, and we’re eating the fish we’re just as likely to die (and probably are dieing) from these poisons.
Now let’s talk about all the prescription drugs that get flushed down the toilet into our lakes and streams and eventually back into our drinking water!
Chris
7 months, 3 weeks ago #
The crap (no pun intended) that gets flushed down toilets is disturbing.
A lot of these plastics are harmless on their own, but they all release chemicals. When different types of plastics are put together and release chemicals, they combine and become toxic.
Here, in Japan, I am always shocked at the amount of household waste that people dump in the water reservoirs. Bikes, plastics, food waste, batteries. They are poisoning their own water supply!
Jonathon Marshall
7 months, 3 weeks ago #
Japan is no stranger to environmental toxins either! Given the horrible Minamata disaster Im very surprised to hear that. Have the Japanese already forgotten?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minamata_disease
chris
7 months, 2 weeks ago #
Most of the population wouldn’t know about it. The ones that are in the know just don’t care. That was in the 60s.
Where I stay, the streets are narrow. There are no sidewalks on the small residential streets. there are narrow drainage ditches about 10inches wide (all running downhill toward the sea). People toss all their crap in these little ditches. Smoke packs, pet bottles, ciggy butts, candy wrappers, when the water flows the crap flows and glogs up the grates of course causing the water to back up.
The rivers are all man made as water drainage from the mountains to the sea. During heavy rain or the monsoon season, flash floods occur and the rivers fill up quickly rushing to the ocean. On any given day if you walk by one of these tiny rivers, you will see discards trash. Hand trash like the pet bottles and empty smokes packets, but also full garbage bags and bikes, furniture, you name it. Sick.
Now the mountains. Go for a hike and look over the rail of a mountain road. People drive their trash up into the mountains and dump the crap over the edge (to dodge paying for removal). Tvs, fridges, bikes, blankets, desks. Sick. Also people abandoning pets. Dogs, cats, monkeys, alligators, foreign fish.
enough for now.. depressing my self!