Threatened sea birds are visiting plastic pollution hotspots | British Antarctic Survey

A huge team of scientists tracked the global journeys of endangered sea birds, and compared this to ocean plastic pollution hotspots... and they found that there was huge overlap.

A quarter of all plastic exposure risk faced by birds occurs in international waters, outside of national boundaries. This is largely linked to gyres – large systems of rotating ocean currents – where vast accumulations of plastics form, fed by waste entering the sea from boats, and from many different countries.

Seabirds often mistake small plastic fragments for food, or ingest plastic that has already been eaten by their prey. This can lead to injury, poisoning and starvation, and petrels are particularly vulnerable because they cannot easily regurgitate the plastic. In the breeding season they often inadvertently feed plastic to their chicks. Plastics can also contain toxic chemicals that can be harmful to seabirds.

➡ Read this news story on the British Antarctic Survey website:
https://www.bas.ac.uk/media-post/worlds-threatened-sea-bird-species-visit-plastic-pollution-hotspots/

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The polar regions may be at the ends of the Earth, but what happens there affects us all. We're committed to understanding our planet - and how humans are impacting the future of our home. British Antarctic Survey carries out and supports polar science for the UK, and in collaboration with science communities around the world.

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