https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/02/new-zealand-the-most-perilous-place-for-seabirds-due-to-plastic-pollution
[links and images in online article]
New Zealand the most perilous place for seabirds due to plastic pollution
‘Seabird capital of the world’ is home to dozens of endemic species,
which are particularly vulnerable to plastics
Seabirds are more at risk of dying due to plastic in New Zealand than
anywhere else in the world, new research presented to parliament has shown.
New Zealand is considered “the seabird capital of the world”, according
to the country’s Department of Conservation, with the northern royal
albatross raising their chicks on the Otago Peninsula, unique species of
oystercatchers on the Chatham Islands and more penguin species than any
country in the world.
There are 36 seabird species that breed only in New Zealand. Mexico is a
distant second with just five. More than a third of all seabird species
are known to spend time in New Zealand’s waters.
Karen Baird from conservation group Forest & Bird, which produced the
report, said: “Rubbish that ends up in our seas has a far worse effect
on seabird species than anywhere else in the world.”
“Even though we don’t have the most plastic pollution, we are unique in
the world in having so many seabirds species. We also have the most
threatened seabird species, many of which are found nowhere else.”
Seabirds are particularly vulnerable to eating plastic because they are
surface feeders, spotting food from the air and swooping down on it,
scooping it up and swallowing it before the mistake is realised. Seabird
chicks and adults face starvation when their stomachs fill up with
plastic rather than food.
Forest & Bird called on the government to ban single-use plastic bags
and commit to further research into how marine life is affected by
plastic in New Zealand waters.
One in three turtles that are found sick or dead in the country are
caused by the animals eating plastic, Forest & Bird found, with marine
mammals such as seals and sea lions also at risk.
In neighbouring Australia, nine out of 10 fledglings in some shearwater
colonies surveyed had eaten significant quantities of plastic, Baird
said. New Zealand’s 10 shearwater species could be in for the same fate
if plastic pollution wasn’t urgently addressed, Baird said.
Plastic accounts for 78% of all rubbish on New Zealand beaches, with a
study this year finding Wellington’s scenic Oriental Bay has some of the
worst plastic pollution in the world.
Associate environment minister Eugenie Sage said the government was
tackling ocean pollution at its source, and “bold, decisive” action was
needed to combat the estimated 1.5bn plastic bags used each year in New
Zealand. “Dealing with waste on land means less makes it into the
ocean,” said Sage. “In March, New Zealand signed up to the United
Nations-led CleanSeas campaign to rid our oceans of plastic, and we
accepted the Greenpeace petition seeking a ban on single use plastic bags.”
“We are working on how to get rid of single use plastic bags but in the
meantime it’s great that many retailers and supermarkets are showing
leadership by phasing them out.”
Microbeads have been banned in New Zealand, and single-use plastic bags
are being phased out by some major supermarkets, but the government is
yet to pass legislation for stricter, nationwide plastic reform.