Labrīt!
07:27

Sharyn Broni (DOC) Mod
Featured by Department of Conservation
Today the submissions for the webcam chick closed and we begin the sorting process. There have been many creative suggestions put forward. Best of luck to you all.
Our chick is 134 days old and weighs 8kg, the other chicks range from 7-9kg.
In four months, the Northern royal albatross chicks will fly away from Taiaroa Head for the first time, having to fend for themselves.
Throughout their lives, they will spend 85% of their time soaring over the waves or bobbing amongst them. As young albatross learning to scavenge the ocean’s surface for food, they could really do without the added challenge of plastics, which have been found to smell
tasty to seabirds.
A few days this week have an unmistakable theme, a topic that seems to hit the headlines daily: marine plastic.
Today, June 5th, is World Environment Day, a United Nations day of personal action for the environment. The theme this year is ‘Beat Plastic Pollution.’ Much of the plastic waste generated globally is from single-use plastic like shopping bags, drink cups, bottles, and straws.
This Thursday, June 7th, New Zealand’s ban on microbead plastics officially comes into effect. Tiny plastics are increasingly being found in the environment and have been shown to make a toxic appearance in the guts of marine organisms – from plankton to
whales. New Zealand is taking an important first step by stopping the production and sale of these small (less than 5mm) plastic particles that are used for seconds but persist for generations.
This Friday, June 8th, is World Oceans Day, and the action focus this year is ‘preventing plastic pollution and encouraging solutions for a healthy ocean.’ Though a relatively small island nation, we have the 9th longest coastline of any country in the world. New Zealand is intimately tied to the sea and regardless of where the plastic comes from, once it is in the marine environment it is a global problem everyone must front up to.
Coming up, we will be asking you to pledge to a Plastic Free July campaign. Plastic is something we all use every single day, but
it is something we can choose to use sparingly. You can get a jump start on planning a Plastic Free July here.
Can we choose the environment over convenience? Let’s give it our best shot.
If you want to learn more how to get involved and live with less plastic, check out these links:
http://www.plasticfreejuly.org/
http://worldenvironmentday.global/en
http://www.worldoceansday.org/plastic-p ... esources-1