The plight of the albatross and (ironically), an island of trash.

Albatrosses are my favorite birds, hands down.

They are, huge, staunch, graceful, and beautiful creatures.

These birds are incredible, they spend at least 85% of their time at sea, flying and fishing.

Whilst these birds are at sea, doing their thing, they have a diet of mainly schooling fish and squid, but they have been documented deviating greatly from their usual diet.

  

Let me explain. 

This picture was taken at Midway Atoll, a small Hawaiian island in the pacific ocean, very near the great pacific garbage patch. 

The "Great" Pacific garbage patch is a floating, dense island of trash, plastic, and the result of multitudes of waste being carried into the ocean, and collected together by ocean gyres, which are vast ocean currents that cause the garbage to collect in this way. 

Plastic, due to it's numerous properties which make it buoyant and colorful, resembles the fish and squid that the albatrosses used to eat, which also stayed close to the surface. 

But wait, there's more. 

According to Greenpeace, 65% of the world's entire fish population has been over fished.

This means that a lot of the albatross's main food supply has been severely reduced. 

Meaning that the likely-hood of albatross snacking on the readily available trash increases hugely. 

Thus, photos like the one above become more and more common. 

What we can do. 

Reduce, reuse, recycle plastics! Stop them at the source, before they get to the great pacific garbage patch, or the albatrosses. 

Beach cleanups! If you live by the coast, like me, beach cleanups are awesome. All you need is a plastic bag, and some gloves, which are optional, and people. Friends, family, workmates, anyone. 

Spread the word! Tell your family and friends about what's happening. It's such a small action that makes a huge difference. 

Check out: 

Sustainable coastlines 

The Issue with Marine Litter

Photos credit:
1) https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/90/Thalassarche_bulleri_in_flight_1_-_SE_Tasmania.jpg
2) https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/Thalassarche_cauta_-_SE_Tasmania.jpg
3)http://ocean.si.edu/sites/default/files/styles/663x/public/photos/chrisjordan1.jpg?itok=5PqxOTht

Thanks for reading, 

Grace.