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Summary
The video introduces the critical issue of plastic pollution in oceans, emphasizing its
detrimental effects on marine animals like seabirds. Through expeditions and research,
scientists explore the scale of the problem and the impact of plastic ingestion on species like
the flesh-footed Shearwater. The discussion extends to the presence of harmful chemicals
found on plastic affecting marine life's health. Moreover, the video showcases innovative
solutions and community-led cleanup projects to mitigate plastic pollution in rivers and
oceans, including the development of alternative materials like seaweed-based packaging.
What have you seen happening to this breeding colony?
"The numbers have definitely fluctuated, but definitely more and more of the birds have
plastic in them, and we are finding an increasing number of birds that seem to be more
heavily affected. Quite a number of years ago, you know, the average number of pieces of
plastic per bird might have been closer to perhaps five or ten pieces per bird, and now it's
much closer to 30 or 40 pieces per bird. So things are shifting."
How often do you find evidence of plastic ingestion in the chicks that you gather on the
beach that haven't made it?"
There's some kind of bottle cap or a small fragment or maybe the lid of a pen or something
like that. I mean, there are very few places left on the planet that are so remote and pristine
seemingly than Lord Howe Island, and yet even here it shows what the rest of the world is
doing impacts wildlife, and it's a global responsibility. That much is without question."
How many birds contribute to this amount of plastic?
Maybe 50 to 100, give or take."

Shearwaters background info
Shearwaters eat the most plastic of any marine animal. There's no doubt this bird died as a
result of this plastic ingestion. The contents of this bird's stomach is the equivalent of a
human eating 10 kilos of plastic. Jen's research has revealed that the plastic may be doing
even more damage than first thought. In the last few months she's discovered evidence that
chemicals found on plastic could be disrupting the bird's hormones. From these studies, we
know that they interfere with hormone production and the function of hormones in the
bloodstream. So the bird or other animal can look completely normal on the outside and yet
not actually be able to reproduce and grow correctly. Even small amounts of plastic may
impact a bird's health. "We may have drastically underestimated the effect that plastic is
having on these animals
What are your thoughts about plastics and how much of a threat they pose on top of all
the other threats the dolphin is facing ?
The companies came to this area and they built huge areas for plantation or for coal mining.
The workers are not really well educated, and now we told them not to throw trash
everywhere, so sometimes they just throw it everywhere. If it's on like this, there are very
small chance for the dolphins to survive.
Technology’s help to encounter such plastic problem
The growing ocean plastic crisis has galvanized engineers and inventors to design technology
that collects the plastic from rivers before it enters the sea. Mr. Trash Wheel, and they're
pulling out thousands and thousands of pounds of trash per year, and this is something
that's suited for high volumes. This wheel has been built in Baltimore Harbor; it lifts plastic
rubbish from the river and drops it into a barge. The trash wheel is actually a very simple
machine. The water wheel gets its energy from two different sources: one is the flow of the
river that brings the trash, the other is we have solar panels on the trash wheel. Since the
wheel started turning in 2014, it's collected almost 1 million plastic bottles, half a million
plastic bags, and 11 million cigarette butts that are made up of tiny plastic fibers. We picked
up over 35 tons of trash in one day! This technology could be just too expensive
Alternative material to replace plastics
It's made of seaweed without using any chemical process. They used their seaweed
technology to design fast food packaging. And disposable cups. Food packaging makes up
over a third of all plastic waste in the ocean. While there are still some concerns about how
seaweed farms might affect coastal ecosystems, the potential of this design is enormous.
Problems with entanglements
Entanglements are affecting animals all over the world, killing an estimated 300,000 marine
mammals a year and over 400,000 seabirds. Many of these animals have been caught in
plastic fishing gear.
Solving the problems
To reduce the number of right whale entanglements, local authorities here have imposed
strict fishing bans at the peak of their migration. Fishermen have also made significant
changes to their fishing gear, but with more rules and restrictions on the horizon.
Plastic
Plastic is one of the most durable materials on the planet. Every single piece of plastic that's
ever entered the ocean is still there. In fact, plastic has recently been found at the bottom of
the Marianas Trench at a depth of seven miles, and scientists have now discovered that
plastic is threatening one of the ocean's most fragile ecosystems: coral reefs. It's almost like
nature's doing absolutely everything it can to try and survive this mess, and yet right beside
that little bit of life growing out of plastic, there's a whole area that's just dead. And this is
just one of the sites, so there are many islands out here that have much more plastic than
this.
Bacteria on plastic
The surface of plastic provides the perfect home for bacteria to thrive. One of the most
dangerous bacteria for coral is found in a group called Vibrio, one strain of which causes
cholera in humans.
Concerns for microplastics
In a recent study at Plymouth Marine Laboratory, scientists injected a fluorescent marker

into microplastics. They discovered that tiny plankton are ingesting them. They then focused
their research up the food chain to small fish, mussels, clams, and oysters and discovered
that they were ingesting microplastics too. The concern now is that microplastics are
heading further up the food chain to some of the biggest ocean predators.
Overall help
all this plastic may be affecting us is in its infancy, but the evidence we have about how it
affects marine life paints a disturbing picture. As the ocean plastic crisis becomes ever more
apparent, more and more people are taking action to become part of the solution. All across
the globe, people are giving up single-use items like straws, takeaway cups, and plastic bags,
and they're heading to the water's edge.The cleanup efforts taking place all around the
world are incredible, but the thought I just can't get out of my head is: we can try to clean up
our rivers and coastlines. We can even try to clean up the plastic that's far out at sea, but
unless we turn off the plastic tap, the unrelenting deluge that enters our oceans every day
simply will never stop.

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Summary

What have you seen happening to this breeding colony?

How many birds contribute to this amount of plastic?

Maybe 50 to 100, give or take."

Technology’s help to encounter such plastic problem

Problems with entanglements

Solving the problems

In a recent study at Plymouth Marine Laboratory, scientists injected a fluorescent marker

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