The Albatross Chicks and Pollution

The albatross chicks of Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge live 1000 miles away from civilization in the central pacific.Yet, their environment is contaminated with pollution such as bottle caps, toothbrushes, cigarette lighters, and golf balls. A survey showed that 57% of the pollution on the island they lived were land sources and 43% were fishing related gear. John Klaviter, deputy refuge manager of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, estimates that the albatross chicks consumed more than four tons of plastic last year.

This study is obviously to raise awareness of our reckless pollution. The albatross chicks are dying by consuming these items. Seba Sheavly who ran the study hopes that this will allow us to be smarter with the way we handle our material. The island which the albatross chicks live on isn't the only place suffering. All around the ocean the waters are being polluted by plastic and so on.

This is a common problem in our ecosystems. We can make a difference by recycling and not litering. Recycling has been improving over the years, but we need to do a btter job of where we out our trash. We only hurt the ourselves and the organisms around us if we don't take responsiblity.

Source: Groc, Isabelle. "Cleanup Time On the Highseas". Discover August 2010: 18-18.