Plastic Debris

On Tern Island there are bits of plastic everywhere. The albatross feed at sea on floating organisms and they mistake pieces of plastic for food items or take them in inadvertently. These plastic bits are then carried back to the island in the adult and fed to the chicks. Many chicks die because the plastic fills their digestive systems until they can no longer feed. Since I've been here I've seen several spots where chicks have died and decomposed and you can see a double handful of plastic pieces in the remains. I also saw a set of remains that looked to have a large plastic float stuck in it's throat. There are pieces of plastic silver dollar size and smaller everywhere in the bird colonies and all these have been carried in by adults to feed their chicks.