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https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-05-15/birds-crunch-full-plastic-losing-war-waste/105221266>
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Warning: this story contains graphic images.
The tiny Lord Howe Island is a sanctuary of volcanic rock off Australia’s east
coast, so carefully preserved that the number of visitors allowed at any time
is strictly controlled.
It’s home to about 500 humans and 44,000 shearwaters, more commonly known as
mutton birds.
It is the last place you would expect to find wildlife with bellies full of
plastic.
For about 18 years, Dr Jen Lavers has been travelling to Lord Howe Island to
study the mutton birds, and every time finds more and more plastic inside them.
Last month, her team Adrift Lab found a bird that broke the record: almost a
fifth of its entire body weight was plastic.
“To witness it first-hand, it is incredibly visceral. There is now so much
plastic inside the birds you can feel it on the outside of the animal when it
is still alive. As you press on its belly … you hear the pieces grinding
against each other.
“That changes people.”
The mutton birds have become so full of plastic their bellies crunch and
crackle with the sound of it.
It is a graphic sound, but one that the Lord Howe Island scientists want the
world to hear."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
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mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
