Shocking Photos: Bird Bodies Full of Plastic
October 21, 2009 · Print This Article
Lighters, bottle caps, plastic bags and milk jugs. Fishing net, fishing line, zip ties, remnants of food containers. All of this and more floats in a massive vortex of trash in the Pacific Ocean – and in the stomachs of the birds who search for food amid the debris.
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is twice the size of Texas, and many of the particles of plastic contained within it are so small they can’t be scooped out of the water. But other pieces – colorful pieces that look like they might be food – get swallowed by albatross and other birds.
Photographer Chris Jordan traveled to the Midway Islands, near the center of the garbage patch, to photograph the bodies of albatross chicks that have been inadvertently killed when their confused parents fed them plastic. Jordan didn’t move a single piece of plastic – he photographed the carcasses exactly as he found them.
The photos are a disturbing reminder of just how much of an effect our throwaway society is having upon our fellow inhabitants of this planet. Head over to Planet Green to view the whole set of 30 photographs.
Link [Planet Green]
- The Great Pacific Garbage Patch
- Petition for our governments to mandate production and availability of bio-degradable plastics
- Save Our Ocean! Clean Up Garbage Island!
Related Posts:
The Impossible Task of Cutting Plastic Out of Your LifeMarine Scientists Studying Great Pacific Garbage Patch
Activists Take Junk Journey Through ‘Plastic Soup’ in Pacific Ocean
Great Pacific Garbage Patch Researchers Find Even More Plastic than Expected
Pacific Garbage Patch Cleanup to Begin Next Month
That’s so sad. It’s easy to forget that when you throw something ‘away’ it doesn’t stop existing…especially plastic.
Good post. That’s a powerful, and sobering series of photos. Hats off to Mr. Jordan.
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This post was mentioned on Reddit by MareNubium: Try to imagine the pain of these animals before they died.
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