Blog #306 Discarded COVID-19 PPE Deadly to Wildlife

Falcon with PPE, courtesy of USNEWS. 

For a while, seeing discarded single-use face masks and other discarded COVID-19 protective equipment (PPE) in parking lots and on hiking trails was a just sign of the times. Now wildlife and ecosystems around the world are suffering from the impact of  this litter. This is just the kind of thing ospreys take to their nest and gulls play with.  Why people just toss them aside is a question for another day. 

PPEs floating in water, courtesy of Pinterest

Reports of Brazilian penguins ingesting masks, a Dutch fish getting trapped in latex glove, English hedgehogs entangled in latex gloves, and an octopus off the coast of  France living under a mask are just the tip of the problem. The impact of discarded  single-use PPEs is fast becoming a global problem according to a new study in the  March 22, 2021 issue of Animal Biology. 

Robin entangled in a discarded single-use face mask in Chilliwack, Canada, courtesy of Sandra Denisuk. 

This study of by Leiden-based biologists, Auke-Florian Hiemstra and Liselotte  Rambonnet, found 28 such instances of animal deaths from PPG from around the  world. The earliest reported victim was from April 2020: an American robin in Canada,  died after becoming entangled in a face mask (photograph above). Pets are ingesting  them too: a domestic cat in Philadelphia ingested a glove, and a pet dog in Boston  swallowed a face mask. When plastic fills an animal’s stomach, they starve to death.  

PPE ladened garbage on the shoreline.

A report from the marine conservation organization OceansAsia, estimates that 1.56 billion face masks entered the world’s ocean last year, part of the 8 million to 12 million  metric tons of plastic that reaches the oceans annually. Since 1950, plastic has become  ubiquitous in our environment and is found worldwide from the deepest oceans to  snows of Mt. Everest. Plastic degrades into tiny micro particles that get in our air, water,  soil. Micro plastic particles are found in our food and in our bodies and we have no idea  how hazardous this might be. 

The far-reaching impacts of COVID-19 litter on wildlife are only beginning to show  themselves. Researchers Hiemstra and Rambonnet are calling upon citizen scientists  worldwide to help them continue monitoring the situation: At www.covidlitter.com,  people from around the world can submit their observations of affected wildlife. Do your  part to help curb this growing plastic hazard by switching to reusables wherever  possible, and by cutting up disposal gloves and snipping the straps off of single-use  masks to prevent animals from getting entangled or trapped in them. 

Eyes to the sky!  

Candace  

Candace E. Cornell  

Friends of Salt Point & 

Cayuga Osprey Network  

Lansing, NY  

cec222@gmail.com  

HELP PROTECT OSPREYS: 

• Keep a distance (100-300 feet) from active nests in the breeding season. If an animal  vocalizes when you are near, you are too close! BACK OFF IMMEDIATELY. • Carry binoculars to view wildlife from a distance. 

• Restore, clean, and preserve lakeshore and wetlands. 

• Help keep local waters clean, healthy, and safe. 

• Recycle or dispose of used fishing line and other materials wildlife can get tangle in. • Volunteer to monitor Osprey nests with the Cayuga Osprey Network. Write to:  cec222@gmail.com. 

EYES ON OSPREYS 

WATCH! 

Salt Point Osprey Nest Cam 2021 

READ! 

On Osprey Time—a blog on the Ospreys of Salt Point 

VISIT! 

Cayuga Lake Osprey Trail

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