“Over the following months, the adults bring food back from the sea—but increasingly that food includes plastic. These chicks haven’t even left the nest and already they’re full of plastic waste.”
Researchers often find dead or dying birds on the beaches of Lord Howe Island. Some chicks are too weak to swim once they leave the nest, succumbing to the ocean waves.
Shocking Discoveries in the Lab
Back in the lab, scientists extract and catalog the plastic contents from deceased birds’ stomachs.
Living birds undergo a gentler procedure in which seawater is introduced to induce vomiting, allowing researchers to examine recently ingested material.
