NZ seas endanger birds
Rubbish that ends up in New Zealand waters has the potential to cause more damage to seabird populations than anywhere else in the world.
Forest & Bird spokeswoman Karen Baird said New Zealand’s unique number of seabirds meant the potential impact of plastic rubbish was heightened.
‘‘Even though we don’t have the most plastic pollution, we are unique in the world in having so many seabird species ... We also have the most threatened seabird species – many of which are found nowhere else in the world.’’
Now research presented to Parliament by Forest & Bird shows the risk of plastic to seabirds is worse around New Zealand than anywhere else in the world.
The unfussy eating habits of many seabirds meant that animals looking for a feed of kaimoana were instead getting a belly full of plastic.
Both adults and chicks could starve to death because their stomachs became full of plastic, leaving no room for food.
Dr Stephanie Borrelle, a conservation ecologist at Auckland University of Technology, said there were 86 breeding species of seabird in New Zealand – of which about a third were endemic.
New Zealand also had a high proportion of procellariiformes – an order of seabirds which included albatrosses, shearwaters and petrels – that were particularly susceptible to eating plastic.
Plastic tended to float on the surface or stay at a shallow level where the birds fed.
Reuben Raihania Tipoki of Lake Ferry, South Wairarapa, conducted research on a seafaring waka along the east coast of New Zealand earlier this year. He trawled for plastic and observed how seabirds were attracted to plastic in the sea.
‘‘We certainly found that our concerns were validated through the research that we undertook. It is a big issue and we are contributing to the problem.’’
The ocean-going waka Te Matau a Ma¯ui sailed from Hawke’s Bay down to the southern coast of the North Island and found that pollution was 15 times more prevalent in Wellington and Napier harbours than it was in the open ocean.
‘‘Which clearly shows the issue is coming from us. If it’s in your harbours and in your bays, it is coming from your land.’’
New Zealand has 36 species of seabirds that breed only here – the country with the next highest number of endemic birds was Mexico with five.
Turtles have also shown to be at risk in our waters, with a third of turtles recovered either dead or sick from eating plastic, Baird said.
‘‘The issue is coming from us.’’
Reuben Raihania Tipoki, left, of the risk to our endemic bird species from eating plastic.