Even on remote islands: How plastic is killing shearwaters [FIGU Zeitzeichen SE 158]

June 16, 2025 - English Source Articles from FIGU Zeitzeichen Sonderausgabe Number 158

Even on remote islands: How plastic is killing shearwaters. Petrels on an Australian island are starving to death with full stomachs. They eat so much plastic they crunch. Daniela Gschweng

Alexander Bond has a job that many would dream of: Every year, the biologist spends part of his working time on Lord Howe Island, a volcanic island between Australia and New Zealand. The island is a small paradise with beaches, dunes, mountains, and a coral lagoon. Lush forests grow in the subtropical climate, and there is both very deep and very shallow sea water. Lord Howe Island is the only larger island within a radius of several hundred kilometers. Animals on the island should actually be doing well. The numerous animals in and around the island should therefore also be doing well – the reason why the scientist is there in the first place. The conditions on Lord Howe Island are also a paradise for numerous birds – or should be. The area is a protected area and a UNESCO natural heritage site. Among many other birds, pale-footed shearwaters breed on the island. Despite the island's remoteness, they are extremely polluted with plastic. Their health has been deteriorating for years. Wedge-tailed shearwaters and pale-footed shearwaters are the most plastic-polluted birds in the world. Crooked-billed shearwaters, which are closely related to them, eat much less of it. A bird made of 20 percent plastic Bond and his team want to find out why. They spend a large part of their time examining the stomachs of dead birds, which they find on the beach almost every day. The researchers also test the animals for toxic substances that have entered their bodies along with the plastic. The researchers find a