A link to this YouTube video was sent to me by Cynthia Vanderlip, who works at the Kure Atoll Seabird Sanctuary in Hawaii. Cynthia has shared many of her photographs with me, including an image of a plastic-strewn beach on Kure that was published in TRACKING TRASH.
Now Cynthia and her colleagues are preparing video footage to show the rest of the world what they are finding on Kure atoll. This video is not for the squeamish; it shows an albatross necropsy … and the stomach contents are sickening. In addition to 5 squid beaks, 4 pumice rocks and several fish eggs–all of which are normal things to find in an albatross stomach– scientists find 5 plastic caps, 1 strip of canvas, 1 wire brush, 4 feet of monofilament line, 1 pen cap, 1 oyster industry spacer and 2 handfuls of unidentifiable plastic pieces.