‘Crunching’ seabirds on remote Australian island reveal the hidden cost of plastic pollution

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On the pristine shores of Lord Howe Island, a remote World Heritage site in the Tasman Sea, scientists have made a haunting discovery: Seabird chicks so packed with plastic their stomachs crunch when touched. Researchers studying the island’s population of flesh-footed shearwaters — also known as sable shearwaters or mutton birds — have found dead chicks with hundreds of plastic items lodged in their bodies, including bottle caps, cutlery, clothes pegs, and soy sauce fish bottles, the Washington Post reported.

One bird was found with 778 individual plastic pieces inside it, surpassing last year’s record of around 400. Some of the chicks, less than three months old, had up to 20 percent of their body weight made up of plastic. The discoveries, made by a team from Adrift Lab and led by ecologist Alex Bond of Britain’s Natural History Museum, are among the most alarming evidence yet of how ocean plastic pollution is ravaging marine ecosystems.

Parents feeding plastic, not fish

“These aren’t microplastics,” Bond said. “These are large, identifiable pieces of trash being fed to chicks by their parents, who mistake them for food.” The birds forage in the Tasman Sea and unknowingly collect plastic pieces emitting chemical signals similar to natural prey like fish or squid. The chicks, unable to digest or expel the material, suffer organ damage, starvation, and in many cases, death.

During their most recent field season, Bond and his team coined new terminology — “crunchy” and “brick birds” — to describe the condition of the chicks. “We used to use these terms sparingly, almost in grim jest,” said Jack Rivers-Auty, a biomedical lecturer from the University of Tasmania who works with the team. “Now we use them daily.”

A crunch that signals crisis

Necropsies on dead birds and harmless flushing of stomach contents in live ones revealed shocking amounts of plastic, sometimes compacted into solid bricks inside the chicks’ bellies. Pressing gently on the lower chest of a live bird often produces a disturbing crunch, a sound the researchers say is unforgettable.

Lord Howe Island, home to about 445 people and a breeding ground for roughly 44,000 shearwaters, is seen as a bellwether for global marine health. Bond called the birds a “canary in the coal mine,” warning that similar effects will likely be seen in other species if plastic pollution continues unchecked.

Plastic reaching every organ system

The impact is not limited to digestion. Rivers-Auty’s team has found plastic affecting “nearly every organ system” in the birds — including the brain. “We’re seeing markers of neurodegeneration similar to dementia in birds younger than 100 days,” he said. “Just one or two grams of plastic are enough to cause long-term harm.”

Globally, humans have dumped over 170 trillion pieces of plastic into the oceans, a 2023 study estimates. Production is not slowing either: over 460 million metric tons of plastic are made annually. Despite its pervasiveness, the long-term effects of plastic exposure on wildlife — and even on humans — are still not fully understood.

A warning for the world

Plastic has now been detected in every part of the planet, from Antarctic sea ice to the clouds over Mount Fuji. In humans, microplastics have been found in blood, organs, and even breast milk.

The findings from Lord Howe Island add urgency to a growing call from scientists and environmentalists for global cooperation on plastic reduction and ocean protection. “The signs are already here,” said Rivers-Auty. “If we don’t act collectively and urgently, we will see this crisis escalate — not just for seabirds, but for ecosystems and species across the globe.”