Balloons found to be deadliest marine plastic for seabirds

[OKIsItJustMe]

https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2019-03-02/balloons-lethal-to-seabirds/10861022

Balloons found to be deadliest marine plastic for seabirds

Posted Friday at 14:53

…

Researchers studying the gut contents of dead seabirds have found balloon debris is the most lethal type of plastic the birds can swallow.

The waters off south-eastern Australia and south-west of New Zealand, where the Tasman Sea boundary meets the Southern Ocean, have the greatest diversity of seabirds in the world.

Because of this rich diversity, researchers said this is where the worst consequences of marine plastic pollution could be felt.

Although most of the balloons removed from dead birds in the study, which is published today in Scientific Reports, were degraded and lacked markings, researcher Lauren Roman, from the CSIRO and University of Tasmania, said she believed they were mostly party balloons.

…

[femmedem]

1. I'd be ok with outlawing them.

Balloons are never a necessity. They're not even a convenience. There are other ways to celebrate.

If we can't outlaw them, we can make them socially unacceptable.

[defacto7]

2. They didn't seem to specify between mylar or rubber like balloons.

They're very different materials. I will suppose they mean both. Or maybe just mylar???

[OKIsItJustMe]

3. I believe it would be "rubber-like" balloons...

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-36585-9

… Of particular concern is that seabirds may select for balloons when foraging because of their resemblance to prey, especially squid⁴. All balloons in this study were ingested by species that eat squid, suggesting these squid-feeding species are likely to have higher mortality rates. …

I don't feel mylar resembles squid.

On the other hand, I've often heard calamari compared to "rubber bands."