Record-breaking levels of plastic found in seabirds, with almost 900 pieces found in one bird alone

These 'Crunchy' Seabirds Are Crunchier Than Ever Before—for a Very Grim Reason

Bird parents think plastic waste is food, and they feed it to their young.

Dead seabird found with almost 900 pieces of plastic waste in its body

The sable shearwater bird had 894 pieces of plastic inside its body when it died,

Record-breaking levels of plastic found in seabirds, with almost 900 pieces found in one bird alone

For more than a decade, it was thought that the world's most plastic-polluted birds couldn't get any more contaminated by the man-made material. But then, from 2023–2026, the record was broken every single year.

These ‘Crunchy’ Seabirds Are Crunchier Than Ever Before—for a Very Grim Reason

Bird parents think plastic waste is food, and they feed it to their young.