The dangers of plastics in our ecosystem is an issue that is becoming more mainstream knowledge. We’ve begun to realise that nothing that we throw ‘away’ truly vanishes – it all ends up somewhere. In the landfill. In our oceans. Sustainability initiatives give me a lot of hope, and I’m pleased that people are becoming more mindful of their habits of consumption. It’s really difficult to be completely plastic-free! But by keeping it in mind and doing our best to reduce our waste, and encouraging others to, we can make a difference.
I’ve written about the impacts of plastics on seabirds a lot – you can read about it in the review of threats to seabirds in Northern Aotearoa New Zealand. It hits each species differently, with some more likely to get entangled in discarded fishing gear, lines and nets, and others more likely to mistake it for food and eat it. Albatrosses in particular seem to be at risk of eating plastic, and having it in their stomachs can cause a lot of problems. Some can be regurgitated, but if it gets stuck, it can prevent them from digesting anything, and they’ll starve to death.
This has popped up in the news recently, because a Light-mantled albatross ended up dying after coming to land in Wellington. There was a plastic blockage in its stomach. It happened earlier in the year, with a Southern Royal albatross that was found upon autopsy to have an entire plastic bottle in its stomach. These are just the incidents we see, because the birds end up near people. How many die at-sea, or are washed up in remote places, we have no idea. The true impacts of this problem could be much larger than we realise.
Albatross species have the odds stacked against them. As well as plastic, their populations are impacted by the fishing industry killing birds as ‘bycatch’. Climate change is altering the environment they’ve adapted to live in, making it more difficult for them to find food. Although much of their habitat in Aotearoa is pest-free, elsewhere in the world they’re killed by invasive pests like the mega-mice of Gough island. The project to eradicate the mice and save these seabirds from extinction has been postponed due to Covid-19.
Most albatross species live on remote islands. Unless you spend time at sea, you don’t get to see them very often. They’re out of sight, out of mind. It can be easy to think, looking out at a placid blue ocean, that everything is fine. But these events of albatrosses showing up in urban areas with plastic in their guts brings home the message that we can’t ignore the impacts we’re having – even the indirect ones.
We celebrated the first World Albatross Day recently, to celebrate these birds and bring to light the challenges they face – the threats to their existence that we are responsible for. It’s sad to think about and difficult to talk about, but it’s so important that we do, because only by keeping these things in mind can we make changes to improve the situation. It’s going to require much harder work than simply saying no to plastic – but that’s something we can all do, and it’s a start.
