Where Does All The Plastic Go? is now a song

Where Does All The Plastic Go? is now a song

Where Does All The Plastic Go? started life as a poem I blogged about here, back in December 2015. Since then I have been watching the situation getting worse with plastic pollution continuing, and it appears from news reports that plastic is now found in every environment on the planet, from the frozen Arctic to the highest mountains, and even at the deepest parts of the ocean. This is insane! This is an ongoing tragedy!

I have been waiting in vain to hear protest songs being written about this subject, which affects us all and is a great danger to life on Earth. I say, “in vain” because as far as I know there are no well-known singer-songwriters or rock bands talking about plastic pollution in their lyrics. This motivated me to create a song from my poem. I recorded Where Does All The Plastic Go? at Northstone Studios in Bridgend, with the help of Jayce Lewis as my producer. I knew I would get a really professional recording by working with Jayce, who has recently been touring with Gary Numan, and who has worked with Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen, as well as the late great Steve Strange (Visage).

I am happy to say that Where Does All The Plastic Go? has been trending on Reverb Nation, and you can stream and download the song here: Where Does All The Plastic Go?  I want my song to get heard as widely as possible. Please share it any way you can!

The Problem's Been Getting Worse

Plastic is constantly entering our oceans via rivers and streams and drains. Our cities and countryside are littered with plastic trash, landfills are full of the stuff and it is everywhere! Most disturbingly, plastic is in the food chain, and as micro particles has even been detected in bottled water. The number of marine creatures that have eaten plastic is truly alarming, and they get eaten in turn by other predators, including humans! Plastic is often in the seafood and fish we eat.

Turtles, whales and seabirds are swallowing floating plastic rubbish. They cannot digest it, they cannot excrete it, and it builds up inside, eventually killing many of them. Albatross parent birds mistakenly feed the trash to their chicks, which then die as their bellies fill with the toxic garbage.

And it isn’t going to go away unless we do something to solve this. Plastic does not breakdown like other forms of rubbish. It does not decompose and go back into the natural environment. Animals cannot digest it. Plastic breaks into smaller and smaller pieces. It can be here for 500 years or more. Most of the plastic ever made is still on this planet somewhere! Plastic also has another hidden danger because it absorbs toxins and then carries them, so it is also poisonous if ingested. Plastic itself becomes hidden. Tiny particles of hard plastic get mixed with the sand of beaches. In some places the number of particles of plastic to the number of natural sand is truly alarming. Same goes for floating plastic particles that outnumber plankton in many parts of the sea. Marine creatures that feed on plankton are feeding on plastic as well now.

Sir David Attenborough

Fortunately for us all, Sir David Attenborough, in his TV broadcasts, has captured the world’s attention with regard to the dangers of plastic pollution, and at last the problem is getting widely reported in the media. Many organisations and people worldwide are trying to stop the pollution getting worse and there are many efforts being made to clean up the oceans. One of the most important is The Ocean Cleanup, which has come about due to the pioneering ideas and determination of Dutch inventor and entrepreneur Boyan Slat. Check out his Ocean Cleanup website to see what is happening!

Ocean Aid

We need as many people as possible to do whatever they can to help stop plastic pollution getting any worse and to clean up the worldwide mess we have. Everybody can do something by applying any or all of the four Rs: ReUSE, ReDUCE, ReCYCLE and ReFUSE! A worldwide effort is needed and needed NOW! 

I have had an idea to help raise even more awareness and get more people and organisations on board. My idea is for a massive concert to be held and called OCEAN AID. It will be following in the musical footsteps of Band Aid and Live Aid. I can see big name acts wanting to be involved if such an event can happen.

Mick Jagger

By the way, a shout-out to Mick Jagger, who is a rock star who has spoken out about plastic pollution in a recent tweet. Mick @MickJagger tweeted: "I've pledged to reduce single-use plastic in my life & support @weareproject0 & @skyoceanrescue.  Refuse plastic straws & cutlery, use refillable water bottles coffee cups, & bring your own bag to the store. Together we can do this! Join me & take the challenge to #PassOnPlastic"

I am thinking BIG but it is a very BIG problem! Please help in any way you can!

Birdwatching in Tenerife

Tenerife Birds

Blue Chaffinch  (Photo: Public Domain)

Tenerife in the Canary Islands is a very popular destination for sun-seeking holidaymakers but it is also a great place for birdwatchers because of the variety of habitats and variety of birds. Some species are very rare ones too.  Amongst the birds that are in that category is the Blue Chaffinch (Fringilla teydea), an endemic species only found in the mountain forests of the island. With its distinctive blue feathers and rarity, this is definitely one bird to watch out for.

On the subject of rare birds that can be seen in Tenerife, there are two species of laurel pigeon that only live in the  laurel ("laurisilva") forests in the mountains of the island. Bolle’s Pigeon (Columba bollii) and the Laurel Pigeon (Columba junoniae) are both very limited in their range of distribution because they need this type of woodland habitat. These evergreen mixed forests that mainly consist of laurel trees were once plentiful in the Mediterranean area, but now the few patches left in the islands of Tenerife, La Gomera and La Palma are some of the only remaining stands of this form of woodland in the world.

Great Grey Shrike (Photo: Marek Szczepanek)

The Great Grey Shrike (Lanius excubitor) is an uncommon bird in the UK but can be found on Tenerife, especially on the mountains and high on Mt Teide. It is also known as a “Butcher Bird” because of its habit of impaling its prey on the thorns of bushes as a sort of makeshift larder where it can eat them later. The Great Grey Shrike feeds on beetles, grasshoppers and small animals, including lizards and mice.

Water birds

Little Egret in flight (Photo: Public Domain)

Although Tenerife has very little naturally occurring freshwater habitats, the reservoirs, ornamental ponds and irrigation tanks provide enough places for frogs and fish to live that can provide food for birds such as the Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea). The Little Egret (Egretta garzetta), with its white plumage, is a very distinctive bird that can be seen all over the island, including along its coasts and on farmland.

The Coot (Fulica atra) and the Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) are two widely distributed water birds that both breed in Tenerife. Both species can be seen on the ponds near the village of Erjos.

One strange-looking bird you might encounter on Tenerife beaches is the Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus). This wader has a very long bill that it uses for probing into sand and rocks where it can find its food.

The Ringed Plover (Charadrius dubius) is another wader that lives in Britain that can be also be seen in coastal areas of Tenerife, including Las Galletas and El Medano. It likes beaches and open areas of ground near the sea or by lagoons.

Birds of Prey

Kestrels (Falco tinnunculus) and Buzzards (Buteo buteo) are the two most commonly seen birds of prey  that live on the island of Tenerife. The Long-eared Owl (Asio otus) hunts by night in many parts of the island. None of the birds of prey are as common as they once were.

The Hoopoe

Hoopoe (Photo: Public Domain)

One of the most exotic looking birds found on Tenerife is the Hoopoe (Upupa epos). It stands out with its salmon-pink plumage, black and white striped wings,  long pointed beak, and a tufted crest of feathers on its head. A rare migrant to the UK, on Tenerife it can be seen in gardens, parks and farmland where it hunts for insects and other small creatures to eat.

Canaries in the Canary Islands

Wild Canary (Photo: Public Domain)

Of course, as you might well expect the Canary Islands have canaries, and although this is not why the islands were named with their descriptive moniker, there are these types of birds living there. The Common Canary (Serinus canaria) is a bird that is very often seen and heard on Tenerife, although this wild type doesn’t have the bright yellow colouring all over its body that the the domestic version you would probably be more familiar with has. Domestic Canaries are sold in pet stores and commonly kept as pets throughout the island.

These are just some of the more interesting examples of birds that can be found in Tenerife, and that birdwatchers can be on the lookout for.

Where does all the plastic go?

Plastic trash (Photo: Public Domain)

Where does all the plastic go? 

Into the sea, into the sea.

How does it get there, who threw it away?

Was it you or was it me?

Oceanic Gyres of Trash (Photo: Public Domain)

Plastic houseplants, why not real plants?

I saw the fake ones at the store,

Shoppers must want them, people must buy them;

I don't want to see any more.

It's not just hunting that'll kill the last whale,

Plastic will do it and it's a very sad tale.

What about the albatrosses?

They are dying out too,

They keep on fishing in the ocean's plastic stew.

These birds mate for life, only to watch their babies die,

From the plastic trash they feed them,

But they cannot understand why.

Remains of an albatross chick (Photo: Public Domain)

The plastic bag I bought, it very quickly broke,

If it ever gets burned there'll be poisonous smoke.

Plastic kills the turtles,

Plastic's eaten by the fish,

It is in the food chain,

And in the dinner on your dish.

Where does all the plastic go? 

Into the sea, into the sea.

How does it get there, who threw it away?

Was it you or was it me?

A Silent Spring for Seabirds

Rachel Carson's Silent Spring

Rachel Carson (Photo: Public Domain)

Rachel Carson's best-selling book Silent Spring gave a grim warning about the dangers of pesticides when it was published in 1962. It correctly predicted that DDT and other pesticides would take a terrible toll on wildlife, and in particular birds. Without birds singing it would be a Silent Spring, and hence the title.  Her book spurred on the environmental movement in a massive way, caused many changes and became a modern classic but it couldn't predict the extreme danger from plastic pollution that was fast approaching. In the 1960s when Carson's book came out less than 5% of seabirds had plastic inside them but by the 1980s it had increased dramatically to 80%.

90% of seabirds have eaten plastic

National Geographic has recently revealed in a shocking report by Laura Parker that today as many as 90% of marine birds have eaten plastic. That means most seagulls, gannets, shearwaters, terns, albatrosses, frigate birds, petrels, kittiwakes, razorbills, boobies, penguins and puffins are likely to have swallowed plastic. The birds mistake plastic for sea creatures and fish with dire results. They are unable to digest plastic, unable to excrete it and so the toxic material accumulates somewhere inside them. As the plastic builds up with each plastic item swallowed so the room for real food gets less. Plastic also contains toxins that can gradually poison a bird to various degrees and lead to its reproductive failure. Sharp-edged plastic items can puncture internal organs and lead to bleeding and death.

Washed up plastic trash (Photo: Public Domain)

This is happening worldwide because waste plastic is being carried down rivers, streams and sewers into the oceans, in addition to the discarded plastic rubbish from ships and left carelessly littering beaches and coastlines. Plastic is washing up on beaches and looks almost like dead fish. Plastic items including bottles, bottle-caps, cups, bags, straws, lighters, spoons, toys and pieces of plastic packaging are floating around or washed onto beaches and look like food to a hungry seabird. 

It is not just at sea because gulls that are so well-suited as scavengers, and which are increasingly colonising our cities and feeding from rubbish dumps are mistaking plastic for food too with disastrous results as can be seen in this video.

Seagull eating a plastic bag

It is estimated that by 2050 every seabird will have eaten plastic!

Albatrosses

Remains of a Laysan albatross chick (Photo: Forest & Kim Starr)

The magnificent albatross, in all of the species, is a type of seabird in which plastic pollution is causing widespread fatalities among the chicks. Parent birds are feeding all sorts of plastic items to their hungry babies not knowing that they are actually killing their young ones. The baby birds cannot regurgitate the plastic trash and cannot digest it either. The rubbish accumulates inside them and they become undernourished, stressed and eventually die.  The helpless parent birds can only look on in horror!

The following video shows how bad the situation really is:

Plastic in albatross chicks at Midway Atoll

All types of albatross are recognised as endangered species. Can you imagine a world without these birds? Can you imagine a world without seabirds where we can no longer hear the cry of the seagull?

Seagulls in flight (Photo: Public Domain)

 Can you picture rocky cliffs and islands no longer used as breeding sites for seabird colonies?  Plastic is one of the many serious threats to seabirds of all types and, the way things are going, it looks as if these birds are heading for extinction unless something can be done to halt their decline. 

Whales and turtles

Footage of whale who died after eating plastic bags

And it is not just the seabirds that are in danger because of plastic trash that they eat. Whales and turtles, as well as many other types of marine life are eating the material. Beached and dead whales are being found with masses of plastic bags and other rubbish inside them and turtles too are suffering the same fate of dying after consuming plastic. These marine reptiles eat the material after mistaking it for jellyfish.

Sea turtle eating plastic