1.        Chris Jordan: "For me, kneeling over their carcasses is like looking into a macabre mirror. These birds reflect back an appallingly emblematic result of the collective trance of our consumerism and runaway industrial growth. Like the albatross, we first-world humans find ourselves lacking the ability to discern anymore what is nourishing from what is toxic to our lives and our spirits. Choked to death on our waste, the mythical albatross calls upon us to recognize that our greatest challenge lies not out there, but in here."



  1.        “Garbage Patches” of the Pacific Gyre - 6 times more plastic than plankton; 2 times the size of Texas ( + 1,382,000 sq km); 1.5 size of BC; 44 x size Vancouver Island. Related links:


  3. •Shocking pictures of the carcasses of albatross chicks that have died on the remote Midway Atoll as a result of the abundance of plastics in the Gyre. The parents having fed the chicks the plastic thinking it is food. Video trailer for the “Midway - Message from the Gyre” movie and August 23, 2012 New York Times article “The Fatal Shore, Awash in Plastic” here. Includes a video clip of volunteers trying to clean the beach at the Midway Atoll and the quote above.

  4. •Death by Plastic - short article by yours truly striving to summarize the problem of plastics pollution.

  5. •Image of a sea otter pup wrapped in a plastic bag (Oct 2012)

  6. •Stranded dead grey whale (April 2010) has plastic bags, plastic chunks, duct tape, sweat pants and a golf ball in its stomach.

  7. •Video of "Entanglement of Steller Sea Lions in Marine Debris: Identifying Causes and Finding Solutions". Difficult to watch but  . . . as always, education will lead to prevention.

  8. •NOAA’s page on entangled seals and sea lions - incidence and cause.

  9. •See video and pictures at “Altered Oceans” (LA Times) - takes a few minutes to download. “A five-part series on the crisis in the seas.” Part 4 is on plastic debris.

  10. •“Rise Above Plastics” - petition, education and incredibly powerful images.

  11. •“11 simple ways to save the ocean from turning into plastic soup”

  12. •Ted Talk on living without plastics. Beth Terry of “Fake Plastic Fish.”

  13. •Plastic Oceans film project - includes video clip with David Attenborough

  14. •“Pebble in the Pond” - All the plastics that collect and what to do about it

  15. •Pledge against plastics and learn more about their environmental impacts

  16. •“Discovery magazine” article - July 2008.

  17. •“Message in a bottle” - background on plastics pollution from the Sierra Club

  18. •Information including pictures and movie trailers for the documentary “Addicted to Plastic”.

  19. •Video of a Bryde’s whale the died after ingesting plastic.

  20. •Poster showing how long it takes materials to break down in the ocean

  21. •NOAA presentation on the impacts of marine debris aiming at the Gulf of Mexico but information applies to all oceans

  22. •PPT presentation on “The Dangers of Plastic Bags”

  23. •Cetacean Sightings Network - see “entanglement”

  24. •Images showing the consequences of sea turtles ingesting plastic bags

  25. •Video and article of a Minke whale’s adapted feeding behaviour as a    

  26. •        result of having been entangled.

  27. •Shortcomings of “degradable” plastic bags (better to use reusable!)








Plastics Pollution /

Marine Debris