Original: Wind Xiaotian Plastic detoxification
Above is the Blizzard Stork, below is the Albatross
Blizzard Stork (Fulmarus glacialis)
Hù (鹱), pronounced "household", is a large seabird from the Arctic region that is a relative of albatrosses. Still, it is easily confused as an gull, but it is larger than a gull, with longer, straighter wings, a thick neck, and a short beak. The Blizzard Stork has a wingspan of up to 102 to 112 cm and is available in two shades: white and grey. They also live in groups on the Falands Josephine Islands, often nesting in caves in coastal cliffs. [6]
Albatross with deadly plastic in his stomach (Image: Source: www.albatrossthefilm.com)
The Blizzard Stork has plastic in its stomach (top); the Blizzard Stork chews on plastic fragments at sea (bottom left), and the Blizzard Stork has fragments, foam, planks and wood in its stomach (bottom right)
(Photo credit: Jan Andries Van Franeker)
I believe you have also seen pictures of plastic garbage in the belly of seabirds, and the albatrosses on Midway Island in the North Pacific Ocean eventually died because they mistakenly used plastic garbage for food. As a relative of the albatross, the Blizzard Stork, he also can't avoid the damage of plastic.
Stephanie Avery-Gomm and colleagues at the University of British Columbia in Canada have investigated the case, and they have found a large number of Blizzard Stork carcasses on the beach, and in 90% of the Blizzard Stork carcasses, they have found undigested plastic waste, including toothbrushes, bags, fishing nets and styrofoam blocks, which caused the Blizzard Stork's unnatural death. The statistical results show that each Blizzard stork that died of plastic waste by mistake had an average of 36 pieces of plastic waste in its body, and the highest record was 485 pieces. [1]
Chart of "Plastic War Quick Fix" (Source: UN Environment)
According to the United Nations, 500 billion plastic bags are consumed worldwide every year; 1 million plastic bottles are sold worldwide every minute. Only 9% of the plastic produced worldwide is recycled, and the remaining 5.5 billion tonnes are landfilled or discarded haphazardly in the natural environment, with an estimated 8 million tonnes of plastic flowing into the ocean each year.
Plastic will be broken down into tiny pieces and then ingested by plankton, with 1 million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals dying each year from plastic pollution, which ultimately affects the food chain and the food composition on human plates.
Unbelievable mass deaths
Representative of Storks in the Arctic: Blizzard Storks. Although the Murray birds that people may be more familiar with are albatrosses. (Image source: http://www.naturfoto.cz)
In addition to the immediate physical effects, there is growing concern about the potential effects of/adsorbed chemicals in plastics. Based on observations of the mass deaths of Blizzard Plover in the North Sea in 2004, the effects of chemicals in plastics may have occurred, and could be sudden and severe.
The Save the North Sea (SNS) Blizzard Stork Research Group has established a plastic intake monitoring system in the North Sea. In March 2004, the North Sea Beach Project surveyors encountered an unusually large number of Blizzard Storks in the southern part of the North Sea, and the project researchers recorded a series of data on the wreckage of the Blizzard Stork, including age, sex, conditions, origin, cause of death, etc., and further analyzed this large-scale death event.
Sample size of the stomach of the Blizzard Stork in the Rescue North Sea (SNS) study. The Blizzard Stork suffered mass deaths in March and June 2004, and much more remains were collected than the number of autopsies.[2]
Females make up 88% of dead Blizzard Grebe
In the 2004 mass death of Blizzard Storks in the North and South Seas, delayed or stalled moulting caused many Blizzard Storks to wear out excessive feathers, which affected their insulation, waterproofing and flight capabilities to some extent.
The Save the North Sea (SNS) Blizzard Storks research team found that seabirds suffered from food shortages in the fall of 2003, and most of the dead Blizzard Grebes were moulted and even stopped completely, affecting their insulation, waterproofness and flight ability to some extent.
For seabirds like the Blizzard Stork (with an average lifespan of 31 years), breeding stops if the health or survival of adult seabirds is threatened (such as poor food conditions).
However, the worst of the mass deaths in 2004 was that the majority of the dead birds were adult females, and some even carried eggs for long-distance migrations, which is highly unusual. In the past seabird deaths, young birds have predominantly accounted for, and there will not be such a strong gender preference.
In the 2004 wreckage, the different sex and age compositions of the Blizzard Stork were shown by comparing different periods in the Dutch Blizzard Stork North Sea Ecological Quality Objective (EcoQO) database.
Most dead seabirds experience delayed or stopped moulting of feathers, tails and hideouts, as well as extreme wear and tear on their feathers.
Of the 42 adult females found in May-June 2004: 4 carrying fully developed eggs in their bodies, at least 17 died shortly after spawning.
Plastics can affect the endocrine system of seabirds
The North Sea Eco Quality Target Program (EcoQO) shows that the amount of plastic particles in the stomach of the Blizzard Stork averages 0.31 grams
The feather growth and reproductive decisions of birds are often regulated by hormones. In Blizzard Grebe's large-scale deaths, severe aberrations in down, highly abnormal sex-age mortality, and illogical reproductive decisions have led to suspicions of dysregulation of the endocrine hormone system in seabirds.
Over the years, the proportion of industrial plastic particles ingested by Blizzard Grebe has declined, but unfortunately, it has been replaced by an increase in living plastics. Relatively few chemicals are added to the original industrial particles compared to living plastics. In addition, living plastics have fewer particle sizes, which increases the surface volume ratio. Changes in plastic variety and particle size may have enhanced the transfer of chemicals from plastic to Blizzard Grebe compared to earlier years.
Disturbances in the endocrine hormone system can be the result of various chemicals contained in plastics or adsorbed in seawater. As a top consumer of the marine system, the Blizzard Stork has enriched a significant amount of toxic substances through normal biological accumulation in the food chain [4]. Beyond that, however, Blizzard Grebe is one of the most serious plastic consumers among seabirds because their stomachs grind plastic, which may maximize the absorption of plastic-related plastic-related chemicals [5].
Toxicity equivalents (TEQs) in Blizzard Storks are well above the threshold for reproductive effects in seabirds[4]
The effects of chemicals in plastics are latent
The feathers of many dead birds are extremely worn
The question is why are there such mass deaths now?
In principle, when birds use their fat reserves, contaminants begin to circulate in the bloodstream at higher concentrations, and the effects of contaminants become apparent. However, this happens often in normal annual cycles.
Curiously, the mass deaths in 2004 lasted for a long time. The anomaly is that the Blizzard Stork has a significant low-weight physical condition that lasts for a long time from autumn to winter. It is very likely that endocrine hormone disruptors will be able to function fully only in the case of a long-term decline in physical condition.
This means that the chemical load associated with plastic ingestion may be latent for a long time, but then it may exceed threshold levels under adverse conditions, triggering serious group consequences and posing an irreversible threat. Excessive mortality rates such as adult female seabirds can have a particularly severe impact on seabird populations.
Plastic hazards cannot wait
The explanation for the mass deaths in 2004 is speculative because there is no funding to test and study the relationship between pollutants and hormones in these birds.
On the issue of marine plastic pollution, policies should not be developed when there is sufficient scientific evidence of the impact of plastics on species or ecosystems, as the impact may not be gradual and may have sudden and serious impacts.
And these effects will eventually be repaid to human beings, plastic reduction is the best self-help!
bibliography:
[1] Laurie K. Wilson,Lydia Kleine,Stephanie Avery-Gomm, et al. Northern fulmars as biological monitors of trends of plastic pollution in the eastern North Pacific[J]. Marine pollution bulletin,2012,64(9):1776-1781.
[2] Van Franeker, Jan & Heubeck, Martin & Fairclough, K & Turner, Daniel & Grantham, M & Stienen, Eric & Guse, N & Pedersen, J & Olsen, K.O. & Andersson, P.J. & Olsen, Bergur. (2005). 'Save the North Sea' Fulmar Study 2002-2004: a regional pilot project for the Fulmar-Litter-EcoQO in the OSPAR area.
[3] Van Franeker, Jan. (2011). Chemicals in marine plastics and potential risks for a seabird like the Northern Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis).
[4] Knudsen, L.B., Borga, K., Jörgensen, E.H., Van Bavel, B., Schlabach, M., Verreault, J. & Gabrielsen, G.W. 2007. Halogenated organic contaminants and mercury in northern fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis): levels, relationships to dietary descriptors and blood to liver comparison. Environmental Pollution 146: 25-33.
[5] Teuten, E. L., Saquing, J.M., Knappe, D.R.U., Barlaz, M.A., Jonsson, S., Björn, A., Rowland, S.J., Thompson, R.C., Galloway, T.S., Yamashita, R., Ochi, D., Watanuki, Y., Moore, C., Viet, P.H., Tana, T.S., Prudente, M., Boonyatumanond, R., Zakaria, M.P., Akkhavong, K., Ogata, Y., Hirai, H., Iwasa, S., Mizukawa, K., Hagino, U., Imamura, A., Saha, M., & Takada, H. 2009. Transport and release of chemicals from plastics to the environment and to wildlife.. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 364: 2027-2045.
Purple sandpiper. Those tangled gulls, accompanied by icebreakers: Fruit Shell Mesh.https://www.guokr.com/article/50267/
thank
The Amity Foundation has support from the Migratory Birds Flying Charity Fund