Blue Planet broadcaster urges: Stop plastic tide

THE future of humanity is at stake because of plastic dumping in the world’s oceans, Sir David Attenborough has said.

He urged the public to ‘stop using plastic unnecessarily’, saying that ‘all is not yet lost’ and that everyone has a ‘responsibility’ to help improve the health of the oceans.

The 91-year-old broadcaster revealed a heart-breaking scene from next Sunday’s episode of his series Blue Planet II in which a baby albatross is killed by a toothpick.

‘For me, there was no scene in the Blue Planet II series more heart-rending than one in this programme,’ he said. ‘In it, as snowflakes settle, a baby alba-

‘Now we know. It kills’

tross lies dead, its stomach pierced by a plastic toothpick fed to it by its own mother, having mistaken it for food.’

Plastics have become an increasing problem in all the world’s seas and oceans, because of their indestructibility.

In a column for the Radio Times, Sir David wrote: ‘When ingenious chemists invented plastics over a century ago… no one asked the question of what happened to this extraordinary material after we have finished with it. Now we know. It kills.’

He estimated eight million tons of plastic is dumped into the sea each year. He also spoke about over-fishing, saying companies must control the rate at which they take fish from the sea.