Ocean garbage patch grows, affects Pacific bird haven

11 Nov 2019

Ocean garbage patch grows, affects Pacific bird haven

Ocean garbage patch grows, affects Pacific bird havenPlastic is making its harmful presence felt in more ways than one.

The Hawaiian island of Midway Atoll is littered with bird skeletons that have brightly coloured plastic items strewn among them.
 	Midway Atoll is a tiny picturesque island teeming with life, on the northwestern side of the Hawaiian archipelago.
 	It is a haven for many species of seabirds, especially the albatross.
 	But now, Midway has also become the centre of a great garbage patch, where floating plastic gets collected due to oceanic currents.
 	The Hawaiian islands act like a comb that collects all the debris as it floats across the ocean.

Marine National Monument officials have come across photographic evidence of the horrific sight as recently as October 2019.

Birds feed on bottle caps, wrappers, cigarette lighters etc that are floating on the surface of the ocean.
 	The albatross birds bring back bits and pieces of plastic to feed their chicks.
 	These plastic items either damage their intestines and oesophagus or leave no space for real nourishment.
 	As a result, sea birds end up choking to death.

According to estimates, around 26000 kilograms of marine debris washes ashore on the Hawaiian islands annually.

Recommended for Middle Grades

Plastic is making its harmful presence felt in more ways than one. The Hawaiian island of Midway Atoll is littered with bird skeletons that have […]

To read more...

Share your comment! Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

To post your comment Login/Signup