Thomas Moore, Science
Correspondent
Sky News20
October 2017
A painful death on 'plastic
island'
Conservationists have mounted a
rescue mission to save dozens of seabirds trapped in plastic and Sky News was
given exclusive access to the operation.
The RSPB landed on Grassholm
island, eight miles off the Pembrokeshire coast, to cut free young gannets from
the fishing ropes and nets that adults use to build nests.
Greg Morgan, warden for the RSPB
reserve, said there is so much fishing gear floating in the water around the
island that the birds mistake it for the seaweed that they should be using.
He said: "We estimate there
are 18 tonnes of plastic in the nests on the island.
"The chicks sit on the nest.
As they turn, the plastic gets twisted around their leg and ensnares them.
"They should have flown away
by now. Eventually the adults give up and they are left to starve."
We saw birds with plastic twine
twisted so tight around their legs that it had cut through to the bone.
Other birds were already dead,
their feet tethered to the nest by rope.
Continued
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