The Laysan albatrosses Of midway
To Read More on the Albatrosses and the garbage on Midway, click here.
|
Who are the Laysan Albatrosses?
The Laysan Albatrosses are a type of bird which live on the pacific island of Midway. Midway is home to 1.5 million of these birds, they breed, eat and sleep on Midway. What does this have to do with the pacific garbage patch? This has everything to do with the pacific garbage patch! Since the garbage patch is so large, not every piece of trash manages to stay exactly inside its parameters, some stray plastic from the patch winds its way onto Midway, Where does the plastic end up? The plastic that finds its way to Midway usually end up in the Albatrosses stomachs, usually mistaken for possible food. A recent study on these birds found that of the 1.5 million that lived on the island, the large majority had plastic in their stomach! Even when you look up "Laysan Albatrosses, Midway" on google, the large parts of the opening images are made up of these birds with plastic in their stomachs. Another bad part? A third of all the albatross chicks die, mostly in part of being fed plastic from their parts. How much plastic is being fed to the Albatrosses and the chicks? Of the 20 tons of plastic that winds itself on Midway, 5 tons of that is eaten by the Albatrosses. |
the Ripple effect
The ripple effect, as I like to call it, is when an animal or plant from the bottom of the food chain is wiped out or largely reduced. Following that, a 'ripple' passes through the chain, the higher end suffers because of a loss from the lower end. This can be easily be placed to terms with what is happening in the pacific. Due to the microbes in the patch and the lack of sunlight, zooplanktons are dying, therefore eliminating the food of fish and other small animals. The loss of fish would affect the amount of fish meat humans have and the food of larger animals. See the 'ripple'?
Did you know?
Over 260 species are affected by marine debris annually! |
Microbes in the water
In the waters around and in the pacific garbage patch, there are organic pollutants such as PCB, DDT and PAHs, which can be absorbed by plastic. When the plastics containing these pollutants are eaten by fish and other marine animals they can cause serious harm. When eaten, the animals mistakes these pollutants for estradiol, which then leads to hormone defection in that animal and any which eats it.