sea birds
One Animal at a Time
Sea birds
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Seabirds are grouped into various family organisms that share the same sea and coastline. More than 90% of their lives are spent in the marine environment, even though they are tied to land in order to reproduce. Among their adaptations to survive in the aquatic environment are their diets based on fish, invertebrates and plankton, and their bodies suitable for diving thanks to their hydrophobic feathers, their physiognomy and their ability to apnea.
They are the most threatened group of birds. 28% of the 346 species of seabirds on the planet are in danger, according to the IUCN, due to pollution, accidental fishing and the construction of infrastructure in the sea and on the coast.
Plasticosis
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Plasticosis: a new disease caused by plastic that is affecting seabirds. Half of all plastics have been made in the last 15 years. Some 460 million tons of plastic are produced each year. Only about 9% is recycled. Every year, about 8 million tons of plastic waste reaches the ocean from coastal countries, equivalent to placing about 15 bags full of garbage for every meter of coastline worldwide.
There are at least 150 million tons of plastic in the oceans.
Plastic kills millions of animals every year: birds, fish and other marine organisms. Plastic is known to have affected 700 species, including endangered species. Almost all species of seabirds consume plastics.
Recently, the effects of ingesting microplastics on the health of wild specimens of Black-footed Shearwater or Blackish Shearwater have been analyzed in a new study led by experts from Australia and the United Kingdom. It shows the damage of plastics dumped by humans on this species of bird, Ardenna carneipes.
Plasticosis is a fibrosis produced by the formation of excessive amounts of scarring in the stomach due to repeated inflammations that prevent normal wound healing, as a result of the presence of plastic particles. Some studies have found that up to 90% of young birds contain some plastic that was given to them by their parents. In extreme cases, chicks can starve because their stomachs fill with plastic and they cannot digest the food they need.
Plasticosis may also influence how plastic affects the growth of young shearwaters. The study found that wing length was related to the amount of plastic on its body. While the number of pieces of plastic was associated with the total weight of the bird.
Plastics upset the delicate balance of the ocean and harm the life that inhabits it. Plastics have been found in areas where humans have never been. 70% of the waste is found at the bottom of the oceans and our commitment is to create a chain of awareness around this emergency and do everything possible to move towards a cleaner ocean where marine animals are safe just like us .
Beaches Without Butts
One of the first times I cleaned the beach, I was astonished by the enormous amount of cigarette butts that I discovered in the sand and that were reaching the seashore. In less than ten minutes I was able to collect more than 100 cigarette butts, which contain plastic that never biodegrades and contaminates water, soil and natural ecosystems. They have cellulose acetate, essentially a form of plastic, which is very harmful to the planet. Filters take time to break down, and when they do, they release the pollutants they have absorbed from the smoke.
A single cigarette butt can contaminate up to 500 liters of water, they are highly toxic. 5 trillion of them are thrown into the environment each year and there are already around 72 billion cigarette butts in nature.
Cigarette butts covering the sidewalks, the sand on the beaches, floating in the water of the rivers or between the trees of the mountains, throwing it to the ground is throwing it into the sea.
They pollute as much as plastics and their presence is even higher than plastic wrappers, bags and bottles, according to a report by the Ocean Conservancy.
Two thirds of all cigarette butts produced on a global scale end up in the ocean. A study has shown that a single cigarette butt was toxic enough to kill half the small fish in a liter of water, in just 96 hours. They are ingested by fish by mistake, which gives them a false feeling of satiety, malnutrition and blocks their digestive system.
Safe Swabs
The image of a seahorse clinging to a stick, as if it were algae or other natural debris that it clings to to fight the currents, struck me.
More than 320 thousand kg of sticks are collected on European beaches every year. And they do not decompose after 300 years, polluting the oceans and being a danger to the marine fauna that inhabits them, from seahorses to seabirds.
Albatrosses end up eating plastic because they fish by skimming the surface of the sea with their beaks, inadvertently ingesting plastic fragments.
Petrels and shearwaters live on the islands and search for food in large areas of open sea, in whose stomachs plastic waste has also been found.
In addition to swabs, plastic bags, bottle caps, synthetic clothing fibers and microplastics have been discovered inside. The sharp-edged plastic shards kill birds by puncturing their internal organs. A recent study has revealed that seabird populations had declined by 67% between 1950 and 2010.
According to the Marine Conservation Society, ear buds account for 60% of the human-made trash released into wastewater. Many people flush them down the toilet after using them, they go through the filters of the treatment plants because they are so small and end up being deposited on the seabed, causing serious problems for the life that inhabits this ecosystem. They are called by multiple entities dedicated to the conservation of the seabed 'killers of the sea'.
Rings Off Seabirds
The plastic rings that we find in cans represent only a very small part of all the plastic garbage that alarmingly pollutes the seas and threatens marine animals. Instead, every action we take to have a positive impact on the planet and for a smaller plastic footprint is deeply meaningful.
A healthy, plastic-free ocean is essential for our planet.
40% of the millions of tons of plastic that end up in the ocean each year are single-use plastics such as bags, bottles or rings.
More than 700 species get trapped in plastic debris such as rings before it breaks down or consume microscopic plastic particles that accumulate in their digestive tracts and can cause death. These microplastics are like a "plastic soup" that is made up of between 15 and 50 trillion fragments in the ocean according to various studies carried out by scientists.
The best thing we can do to avoid the terrible consequences that plastic rings entail is to trust those brands committed to sustainability and certain parameters that make them do without them or buy that same drink in a less polluting format such as glass bottles that can be reused.
