Heartbreaking detail in swan photo prompts immediate warning to Aussies
It's estimated some 10 million tonnes of plastic enter global waterways every year, killing countless seabirds and marine animals.
Wildlife rescuers are begging Australians to drastically reduce their plastic intake after a swan was photographed this week with a bottle ring lodged around its neck. They say in particular, we must limit how frequently we use single-use products, which take on a life of their own after we're done with them.
The photo, taken by the Western Australian Seabird Rescue, shows the latest example of how plastic waste from humans can impact wildlife.
But, it's just the tip of the iceberg in terms of how our rubbish adversely affects animals — with volunteers saying they're "out there all day, every day" in some parts of the country just trying to keep up with the skyrocketing volume of jobs coming in.
Rescuer and rehabilitator Sharon Manson says in recent years the situation has "definitely" worsened. Speaking to Yahoo News, Manson said "you didn't used to see bottle rings as much" but now, they're "absolutely everywhere". She encouraged everyone to "cut those rings in half" before throwing them in the bin.
"We're seeing that much more commonly," she told Yahoo News. "There's just far more plastic in the environment nowadays and when we're rescuing birds at lakes and ponds — even in your average suburb — there's a lot of rubbish.
"It's plastic lying around people haven't disposed of properly, it gets washed down into the storm drains, off the road and emptied into the local lakes and ponds. These rings are caught in their mouth, and occasionally around the back of the neck. They can't get it off at all and the bird then has to try and free itself, and it will often badly injure itself in the process."
'Never ending' plastic cycle killing our native wildlife
Manson says if plastic is lodged in a bird's throat, stomach or feet, without interference to remove it, it will simply die. She said the sad truth is there's only one factor to blame — humans and our over-reliance on plastic.
According to Clean Up Australia surveys, plastics account for 81 per cent of all litter found with soft plastics like wrappers and bags being the most common.
Turtles in particular frequently mistake plastic bags for jellyfish, their natural prey, while seabirds and whales ingest large amounts of plastic, causing internal injuries, starvation, or poisoning from toxins absorbed by the waste.
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Microplastics also pose a growing threat, accumulating in marine ecosystems and potentially entering the human food chain through seafood consumption.
"Every week" Mason says she is kept busy with rescues to do with general plastic waste, but, she warns fishing nets in our oceans are an "entirely different story".
"We're out there all day, every day, rescuing birds with fishing line entanglements," she said. "Definitely the members of the public are causing a lot of damage to sea birds just because of their poor fishing practices.
"Then there's all the ghost netting that's drifting around in the ocean that obviously entangle turtles, seals, whales etc. — it's never ending."
Ghost nets, abandoned fishing gear killing tens of thousands
In Australia, ghost nets and abandoned fishing gear pose a major threat, particularly in regions like the Gulf of Carpentaria, where materials tend to accumulate due to ocean currents.
An estimated 640,000 tonnes of ghost gear is left in oceans globally each year. Designed to trap and kill, ghost gear continues to harm wildlife long after being discarded, taking up to 600 years to break down, according to World Animal Protection.
Annually, over 136,000 whales, dolphins, seals, and turtles are caught in this debris, often leading to prolonged suffering and death.
Studies conducted in northern Australia revealed that between 2005 and 2012, up to 14,600 turtles were caught in over 8,600 ghost nets found in the region. Those numbers have likely spiralled since.
"We've had a couple of pelicans in the last couple of years with shopping bags around their legs, they probably get it from the tip or somewhere like that, and the handle of the bag gets caught around their leg, and then it twists, and then they can't get it off," Mason said.
"If they go in the water, the bag fills up with water, and then it acts like an anchor."
She said if we can work to at least keep plastics out of our waterways and out of our lakes and ponds", that will "certainly help our wildlife".
"Cut those rings, definitely," she said. "Any plastic ring like that should just be cut into pieces or cut in half before they dispose of it into the bin."
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