Hawaiian Birds and Laysan Albatross Starvation

Most marine pollution is litter that starts out on land. Trash is washed by rain into city storm drains and out into streams and rivers that lead to the ocean. From there, wind and currents carry our trash far out to sea. The amount of plastic floating in our oceans has grown dramatically over the last fifty years. Every little piece of plastic manufactured in the past 50 years that made it into the ocean is still out there somewhere. In the middle of the North Pacific Ocean, thousands of miles from the nearest populated city, litter is having a heavy cost.

In a perfect world (untainted by man) the Laysan Albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis) diet would consist mainly of fish, fish eggs, and squid. Parents obtain food out at sea by surface feeding and then return to feed their chick by regurgitation. However, in our world and the “age of plastics” their food is often attached to floating debris and the chick will likely be fed bottle caps, toothbrushes, lighters, pens, and toys. The awful truth is that the large amount of plastic crowding the chick’s stomach leaves little room for food and liquid. Of 500,000 albatross chicks born each year on Midway Atoll, about 200,000 (or 40%) die of starvation or dehydration with their bellies full of plastic.