Plastic Animals
Everywhere in the world plastic is present in our daily lives. Unfortunately many countries around the world do not know how to properly dispose of it, in many places plastic is just thrown in the streets, holes into the ground, or into creeks. The most common places that do this are still developing countries, so either they are impoverished or just uninformed on how it can affect the environment, humans, and animals. In the ocean’s between 60-80% of all debris is plastic2 which has resulted in the six different gyres in our oceans: the Indian Ocean gyre, the North Pacific gyre, the South Pacific Gyre, the North Atlantic gyre, and the South Atlantic gyre3.
These gyres have been found as homes to many sea and land creatures. All around the world in the general vicinity of where the gyres are, many animals have been found with plastic in them. The most common animal being found plastic filled is birds, specifically seagulls4.These birds are attracted to the color of the plastic, the glare that is created off of it especially when wet, resembling a fish coming out of the water, and the accessibility of it.
For the birds and other animals that inadvertently feed on plastic-- floating in the water or on land,it is commonly lead to death and even the death of their young. When eating the plastic,not only is it bad for their digestive system, but it never breaks down so the animal never thinks it is hungry, leading it to starvation.