Releasing balloons in the air may give people a five-second thrill but if they stop to think about their effects many would hold back as their action can cause birds and marine life to suffer unnecessarily, ornithologist Natalino Fenech said.
A photo taken by Marcus Camilleri at Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq yesterday shows a black headed gull eating a balloon. The photo was posted on the Facebook group Birds in the Maltese Islands.
“I am sure no one wants to do such unnecessary harm. People do it because they don’t realise, so there should be an education campaign to stop this. But it should be coupled with legislative measures and political parties should do something about it,” Dr Fenech said.
“Nature Trust, which cares for injured sea turtles, often comes across turtles that would have ingested plastic or got entangled in plastic products. We have often seen gulls picking up and eating bits of plastic. But the photo by Mr Camilleri is poignant as it shows the gull with a balloon. People tend not believe it until they see it,” Dr Fenech said.
Plastic, he said, was very dangerous for seabirds and recent research showed that algae that grew on drifting plastic waste gave off a sulphur compound which smelled similar to the fish many marine birds fed on.
"So it’s a double trap and the algae grow within three weeks of the plastic being in the water. Other species, such as gulls, pick up what they see. Birds will not die instantly, but plastic accumulates in their intestines, and it kills them over time,” Dr Fenech said.
Scientists have been tracking plastic ingestion by seabirds for decades. In 1960, plastic was found in the stomachs of fewer than five per cent, but by 1980, it stood at 80 per cent.
A study in 2016 estimated that about eight million metric tons of plastic, enough to cover every metre of coastline in the world, ended up in the oceans annually.
“A shocking video (watch it below) that has been making the rounds on the internet shows the amount and effect of plastic on seabirds. Spending three minutes seeing it is time well spent as it makes you think twice before disposing plastic in an improper way,” Dr Fenech said.