Record-breaking levels of plastic found in seabirds, with almost 900 pieces found in one bird alone
A long-term study on Australia's Lord Howe Island has revealed that seabird fledglings are ingesting record-breaking amounts of plastic. Researchers found nearly 900 pieces of plastic in a single bird, highlighting the escalating impact of ocean pollution on wildlife.
Why it matters
This study provides critical data on the severity of marine plastic pollution and its direct, lethal consequences for biodiversity.
edited by Swati Mestri , reviewed by Andrew Zinin
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Add as preferred source A collage of plastic pieces extracted from inside a dead sable shearwater on a black background. Credit: Justin Gilligan/The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London. For more than a decade, it was thought that the world's most plastic-polluted birds couldn't get any more contaminated by the man-made material. But then, from 2023–2026, the record was broken every single year.
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