These pictures of dead birds on Midway Island are sobering. They remind me of a Calvin & Hobbes Sunday strip that opened with a stark and moving illustration of a dead sparrow. But while the comic strip was sobering, moving, and thought-provoking, these images are sobering, unsettling, and perplexing. Given the cultural inertia behind the behavior that creates so much detritus, there seems little chance of curbing it any time soon.
It’s also an excellent example of how pollutants can move through an ecosystem, causing exceptional damage in a particular area. It’s similar to the way mercury concentrates in fish higher up the food chain.
Hat Tip: The Edge of the American West