I created this very sad image 3 days into our July trip to England. I had been watching Black headed gulls, Greater Black Back Gulls and a couple of Gannets fishing near dusk just offshore of Seaford Beach, East Sussex. It is always a treat for me particularly to watch the gannets.
As I moved down the beach to follow the fishing birds I saw this poor juvenile gannet on the gravel. When I approached more closely I notice that some fishing net and a piece of rope had gotten caught around its lower bill. The net had nearly cut through the left side of the bill and the bird had obviously died of starvation.
I am a marine biologist by training and I have always tried to share my love and wonder of the marine world with others. Having photographed live gannets last year and after seeing all the beautiful images of them recently posted here on BPN I was saddened to find this young bird on the beach.
I decided to create a few images of this bird so that they might remind us all of how man, even unknowingly, can continue to affect nature even when we are not around.
I would like to extend my sincere thanks to the moderators of this forum: Lana, Maxis and James, for giving me permission to share the story of this unfortunate bird.
Stephen
Last edited by Stephen Stephen; 08-09-2008 at 10:38 PM.
Stephen
Yes.....it's sad but it tells the story of human carelessness so well. I think images like this are excellent ways to demonstrate the consequences and certainly make a great impression than a simple warning. Well done.
So sad!! Earlier this year, I removed two Pelicans from fishing lines. One thing I noticed is that when I'm in the water near fisher man boat, they get VERY upset because I get to close but they don't get upset if the lose a line which eventually will kill an animal.
Hi Stephen,
I am aware, of course, that this happens all over the world, but am distressed and ashamed that this was taken on an English beach.
Thank you for bringing this to our attention.
Regards,
Nicki
This photo brought back a memory that I haven't conjured up in decades.
When I was a child, my family had a boat, and once we went to Bird Island near Ponte Vedra in Florida. We were walking on the beach around the island, and came across 3 birds all tangled up together in fishing line. One was a sandpiper, another was some kind of tern, and a large seagull, who was trapped only by his feet, was trying in vain to take off, causing much distress to the smaller birds who were bound by their wings and necks.
It was very disturbing. At that time, my mother happened to smoke, and we used her cigarette to burn through the fishing line and release the gull, and do what we could for the other panicked birds, but I think the only survivor would be the gull. It's one of my earliest memories.
The thought of the slow, agonizing way that these man-made objects take their victims is just terrible.
I'm glad you were able to post. It's a good reminder for us to be careful!
Very good to show this Stephen. Plastics and human-made materials are a huge problem for seabirds worldwide. Gannets actively seek out rope and other fishing materials to incorporate into their nests. Occasionally they get entangled. Plastic beer can rings are a big problem but if you cut the rings before recycling that helps. Seabird scavengers such as petrels, shearwaters and albatrosses pick up floating plastics as food and end up with stomachs too full of garbage to take any real food. We HAVE to stop considering the oceans of the world as big garbage dumps- they are really in our back yard.
There are two ways to consider an image like this. Foremost it paints a grim picture of what we are doing to the environment and it portrays the pain and suffering that we cause at the level of individual organisms. At the population level however, gannets are doing extraordinarily well right now with populations increasing at an average rate of about 3.5% per year worldwide. This is good news and shows how resilient some species are to the effects of our activities.
Well, as sad as it is this image does tell a story...albeit one we would rather not enocounter. It is nevertheless still important to show. We can't just turn our heads away and ignore the truth out there.
The pebble bed does put strangely beautiful twist to the feel of this photograph, as weird as that may sound.
It is sad to see shorebirds caught up in recreational fishing lines, but what we are doing to the oceans through longline fishing, overfishing, and pollution/plastics (as mentioned) is on a whole different scale. Hopefully everyone is aware of how many albatross and similar birds are being killed by longline fishing. Links:
I send money to these organizations, recycle religiously, promote these causes on various web sites, and am a vegetarian. I encourage people to get actively involved in changing the world.
I am always shocked when I go to my local lakes at how much garbage and fishing gear people leave behind. It just enfuriates me to no end. I've thought of photographing it all but, honestly, it's too overwhelming. I have stopped to pick some up now and again but it's always back when I return the next time. It breaks my heart that so many people have this level of total disregard for nature.