Plastic Pollution, Seabirds, and GPS Tracking
8 Oct 2015It’s unfortunate, but plastic pollution is becoming a growing threat in our oceans and is claiming the lives of our precious seabirds, according to scientists.
In fact, the US National Academy of Sciences published a study that says over 95 percent of our seabirds will have consumed some type of plastic by the year 2050.
Jane Haakonsson, DOE Terrestrial Research Officer, states that with the extinction of animals, ‘ll such as the Cayman thrush, there is a real risk of the same thing happening again.
If you conduct a search on the internet, you’ll find many photos of dead seabirds being full of plastic debris. This is quite sad and plastic continues to be a threat for our seabirds, an alarming indication that fueled the study. The seabirds are of particular interest in the study, says Haakonsson, and their resident birds will hopefully be studied next year.
Across the world, there is plastic floating in our oceans and our birds are eating it unintentionally thinking it is food. Sadly, it results in their death at times; even in their young.
According to a report by scientists who were studying the Laysan Albatross chicks of the Pacific Ocean on Midway Atoll and the content in their stomachs, they found some results that were very disturbing. They found that 40 percent of these chicks died before they even grew the feathers to fly. After examining the stomachs of these chicks, it was found their bellies were full of plastic trash.
While feeding their young, the adult birds end up regurgitating and passing this debris on to them. In fact, up to 98 percent of two different species of chicks were fed by their parents objects such as synthetic foam, beads, golf tees, aluminum foil, light bulbs and other objects that were accidently swallowed by them at sea.
Our beloved bird’s digestive systems can be damaged by ingested debris, which can impact their foraging and digestive ability and result in starvation, malnutrition, and death.
Looking to start up a two-year study of the Cayman’s resident seabirds, The DOE is hoping to secure funding for it by partnering up with the University of Exeter and the University of Liverpool.
Through the use of GPS tracking devices in this study, they hope to gather up information regarding the seabirds’ habits. The data they collect and learn through this GPS tracking will help them protect these birds for the future. The mobile device is no bigger than a flash drive.
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