also the Conservation Services Program, about the interactions between commercial fishing and seabirds. (reports by species) (newsletter)
as well as SouthernSeabirds which has lots of resources - mostly in relation to fishing so might not quite be relevant to our topic? but still related
list of all nz seabirds and their threats
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what you can do to reduce marine pollution
2. Reduce your rubbishStudies have shown that about 80 percent of marine pollution comes from the land. So, one of the main ways to reduce marine pollution is to get rid of rubbish carefully, wherever we are. If we reduce the amount of rubbish we make on the land it is likely there will be less rubbish in the ocean.
The best place to start is with YOU. You can reduce your rubbish at home and at school by recycling paper, glass, cans and some plastic containers. You could also compost food scraps and find ways to reuse some of your rubbish.
Some organisations are working hard to reduce rubbish too. The Ministry for the Environment is working with New Zealand businesses to find ways to lessen packaging of their products. Some organisations are using science and technology to discover ways to use recycled items in their products. And more and more organisations are reducing their rubbish by recycling their waste.
3. Make sure only rain goes down the stormwater drain! Most drains flow straight to the sea … which means we could end up swimming in anything that goes down them!
Fortunately there are lots of things we can do to make sure rubbish is not washed down stormwater drains. Important actions are to dispose of your rubbish carefully and reduce your rubbish. If there is less rubbish on the street there is less chance it will be washed down the stormwater drains. Check out the Reduce your rubbish section above to learn more.One way rubbish from the land makes it into our oceans is through stormwater drains. These drains collect and remove the rainwater from our streets. Unfortunately anything collected by the rainwater as it travels across the road and down the gutters – like cigarette butts, oil from cars and other bits of rubbish – also goes into the stormwater drains. The drains then transport this mix of rainwater and rubbish to our streams and rivers. These streams and rivers flow out to our oceans and this is where the rubbish can end up.
Sustainable Coastlines:
lots of info about the impacts here
overview of problems/solutions:
The problem
Drains to sea
The ocean is downstream from everywhere. When we drop litter or leave rubbish lying around, wind and water carry it out to sea. When it rains, litter on our streets gets washed into drains and flows through underground stormwater pipes to streams, lagoons, estuaries and the sea, littering our coastlines and filling up our oceans with plastic. See the evidence from our downtown drain survey.
Plastic not-so fantastic
Most of what we pick up from beaches is made of plastic and has only been used once, like food wrappers, plastic bags and drink bottle caps. Plastic never goes away. It is different from natural, organic things like wood, paper and cotton. Plastic is not natural. It is made from oil mixed with nasty chemicals and does not go away naturally: it does not biodegrade. Because plastic isn’t natural, things made of plastic stay around for a very long time.Check out Our Impact for detailed data on the main offenders.
Trashing our own backyard
In 2011, New Zealanders sent an average of nearly 560 kilograms of waste per person to landfill, making us one of the worst producers of waste in the world. When you consider that there are over 4 million of us, that’s a lot of rubbish.
Man-made menace
Once in our oceans, rubbish can harm and kill sea creatures. It can look like food to some animals and when they eat it, it fills and blocks their stomachs, leaving no room for food and causing them to starve to death. It can also trap, suffocate and drown sea creatures when they get caught in it. Each year 100,000 marine mammals and 1 million seabirds are killed by rubbish at sea. See the shocking effects for yourself.
Plastic soup
When rubbish gets into the sea you may not see it again, but it never goes away. It floats on the surface, can travel a very long way, and lasts a very long time. Much of the rubbish we let into our seas ends up in the middle of the ocean in places called gyres or eddies: huge areas where ocean currents slowly travel round in circles. Because of the continual flow of rubbish into the sea, these parts of the ocean are like massive plastic soups and have been referred to as floating garbage patches. Explore this interactive model of ocean pollution.
Fish & Plastic Chips
Plastics can be full of toxic chemicals used in their manufacture. When fish eat plastic pieces floating at sea, they absorb these toxins which become more and more potent with each step up the food chain. This means that the large fish at the top of the food chain have much higher concentrations of these poisons. As humans, we sit at the very top of the food chain. When we eat fish, toxins from the plastic can enter our bodies and cause major health problems. Scary stuff. Check out our campaign: What goes around comes around.
The solution
The choices we make
If we all use fewer products that create rubbish and dispose of what we use carefully, we can keep our coasts the way they should be: litter-free. The choices we make have a huge effect on the health of our oceans. Stopping litter, putting rubbish in the bin and following the four ‘R’s are easy ways to do your bit for the beach.
Refuse
The most important of the four ‘R’s. If we don’t create rubbish in the first place, then we don’t need to worry about how we dispose of it, or worry about filling-up our landfills. Say “No” to plastic bags and take your own basket or bag when you go shopping.
Reduce
Reduce the amount of waste you create. Use less rubbish and throw less away. Grow your own food. It’s fun, saves you money, and food from the garden doesn’t come wrapped in plastic. Buy fewer packaged goods and compost organic waste. Buy food in bulk rather than single-serve, individually wrapped products.
Reuse
Think about how something could be used again before you put it in the bin or recycle it. Fill your bottle with water from the tap or filter station rather than buying a new one. Bring your own reusable bag to the supermarket or dairy. Use old ice cream containers as a lunch box or to store things in. Buy a Sustainable Coastlines reusable bottle.
Recycle
If you have to have it and you can’t reuse it, then recycle it. Recycling means that we don’t need as many materials to make new products, saves energy, creates less waste and stops our landfills from filling-up so quickly.
Sign-up to clean-up
For rubbish that is already on our beaches the answer is simple: we can pick it up! Beach clean-ups are a great way to learn more about the issue and get involved in a hands-on solution. For invites to our events and to keep up to date with what we’re doing to look after our coastlines, join our mailing list through the form at the bottom of this page. Check out our upcoming events.
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Plastic Bags fact sheet
Every year over 6 million tonnes of rubbish is dumped into the world’s oceans, 80% of which is plastic, and a further 10% of this being plastic bags . With an estimated 46,000 pieces for every square mile of ocean, plastic is responsible for killing 1 million sea birds and over 100,000 sea mammals each year . Turtles, whales and sea birds mistake rubbish for food or get entangled in it, resulting in painful injuries, or even death.
Lots of facts about plastic bags as litter/in landfills here
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