When seabirds smell plastic in the ocean, they think it's time to eatSean GreeneContact Reporter
November 11, 2016
Seabirds mistakenly eat plastic debris in the ocean not just because it looks like food, but because it smells like it.
When mealtime comes around, many species of ocean-faring birds, including albatrosses and petrels, follow their noses to the smell of dying algae, a sure sign that tasty krill are eating up the microscopic plants.
In this tiny feeding frenzy, the algal cells burst and release a distinct-smelling sulfurous compound. The algae use this chemical as a kind of distress call, signaling their bird allies to come eat their predators.
But it’s possible for this process to be hijacked, according to a UC Davis study published this week in Science Advances.
In the world’s increasingly plastic-strewn oceans, marine creatures — especially birds — are ending up with stomachs full of non-nutritious trash.
Plastic pollution presents a growing threat to marine life. According to a 2014 analysis, 5 trillion pieces of plastic (weighing a combined 250,000 tons) are floating in the oceans. More than 200 species of marine mammals, turtles, birds and fish have been found to mistakenly eat plastic, and Australian researchers recently projected that by 2050, 99% of all seabird species will have ingested at least a little of the man-made material....
http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-seabirds-plastic-20161111-story.html
