Impacts on Wildlife

Shoreline litter can threaten wildlife through entanglement or ingestion.

Entanglement

Most of people are familiar with the dangers of discarded six pack rings. They can get easily tangled around an animal and lead to injury or death, such as a duck skimming the water that then gets this item wrapped around its neck and bill.

Wildlife might use pieces of trash to build their nests and shelters, or will simply get tangled when they encounter litter in their path. The entangled item can restrict movement, create injuries and even lead to death by drowning, suffocation or starvation.

• Plastic strapping bands, rope, wire, monofilament lines, plastic bottle rings and similar items contribute to most cases of entanglement.
• Abandoned fishing gear such as lines, nets, traps and pots pose another threat in the form of ghost fishing. This is a phenomenon where these discarded items continue to catch fish and entangle other animals.

Ingestion

The results of ingested shoreline litter can be devastating. Depending on the item, ingestion can lead to starvation, choking or fatal poisoning. Here are a few prime examples of the dangers ingestion poses.

• Mistaken Identity:

A trumpeter swan swallows tiny pebbles of grit to aid with digestion, but they have been found to eat lead shotgun pellets instead, a dangerous poison for this waterfowl. A plastic bag floating in the water looks a lot like a jellyfish to a sea turtle, but sadly these can clog their digestive track.  This then leads to starvation and makes it nearly impossible for sea turtles to dive deep into the water due to air trapped within the plastic bags they have ingested.

• Plastic pellets:

Discarded plastic breaks up into smaller and smaller pieces, and when swallowed, these indigestible bits fill an animal’s stomach. The leads to malnutrition or the animal may feel full and stop eating altogether. In birds, this change in diet can lead to a loss of the fat stores needed for migration and reproduction.