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Pick Up Plastic for Seabirds
Plastic pollution is a major threat to marine wildlife.
© Leo
Billions of pounds of plastic end up in our global oceans every year. Birds – like this Short-tailed Shearwater – that mistake this pollution for food often die from malnutrition, poisoning, or damage to their digestive systems. We can all make the world a safer place for birds and people by keeping plastic out of our waterways. You can replace single-use plastics with reusable items, join a community clean up day in your area, or maybe skip party balloons at your next event.
BirdNote®
Pick Up Plastic For Seabirds
Written by Ariana Remmel
This is BirdNote.
[Short-tailed Shearwater]
Seabirds like this Short-tailed Shearwater spend most of their lives on the open ocean. These birds rarely encounter humans on the high seas, yet they are dying because of our marine debris.
Billions of pounds of plastic end up in our global oceans every year. Animals that mistake this pollution for food often die from malnutrition, poisoning, or damage to their digestive systems.
In 2025, a study led by researchers at the Ocean Conservancy found that a seabird who consumes just 23 little pieces of plastic – about the same volume as three sugar cubes – has a 90% chance of death.
The findings also add to growing evidence that rubber is especially dangerous to seabirds. An earlier study of shearwaters and their relatives found that ingesting debris from rubber balloons is 32 times more deadly than hard plastic.
[Short-tailed Shearwater]
We can all make the world a safer place for birds and people by keeping plastic out of our waterways. You can replace single-use plastics with reusable items, join a community clean up day in your area, or maybe skip party balloons at your next event.
BirdNote has inspired millions of people to take action for birds. Learn more and join us at BirdNote.org. I’m Ariana Remmel.
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Senior Producer: Mark Bramhill
Producer: Sam Johnson
Managing Producer: Jazzi Johnson
Managing Producer: Ariana Remmel
Content Director: Jonese Franklin
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Short-tailed Shearwater ML195905911 recorded by Ramit Singal.
Crashing waves ‘QP05 0478 Surf rock slapping spray’ recorded by Gordon Hempton for Quiet Planet.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2026 BirdNote July 2026
Narrator: Ariana Remmel
ID# actions-13-2026-07-21 actions-13
Reference:
https://oceanconservancy.org/newsroom/press-release/2025/11/17/ocean-animals-ingested-plastics-study/
https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2415492122
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-36585-9
