Party balloons found floating 250km off NSW coastline
Research ship makes an unusual discovery in the Tasman Sea that may have dire consequences for sea lifeScientists aboard an Australian research vessel have found bunches of colourful balloons floating in the water – 250 kilometers off the NSW coastline.
Images taken from the deck of the CSIRO research ship RV Investigator and posted on social media show red and black balloons drifting in the Tasman Sea, still inflated and tied together in bunches.
“The balloons were seen in an area where several species of seabird were being observed, including albatrosses and petrels,” CSIRO said. “When these balloons burst they may be eaten by seabirds mistaking them for food. Plastic ingestion is a global conservation issue for seabirds and other marine life.”
Research from the CSIRO released last week claimed more than half of the world's sea turtles were thought to have plastic in their guts, the result of litter ending up in the oceans.
The finding was based on the analysis of about 1000 turtles found dead on Australian beaches, which were found to have hundreds of pieces of plastic in their digestive systems. Some of the items found, numbering up to 300 individual pieces, were balloons.
"Mind-boggling" discovery
Birdlife Tasmania researcher Dr Eric Woehler, who was onboard the RV Investigator when the balloons were sighted, told the ABC the discovery was “mind-boggling”.
"Ideally you should dispose of balloons appropriately when you're finished with them," he said.
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