WEBVTT - Why Do Seabirds Eat Plastic?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio,

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<v Speaker 1>Hey brain Stuff, Lauren bog Obam. Here it's not quite

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<v Speaker 1>the notes of BlackBerry with oaky overtones that you might

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<v Speaker 1>find in a cab salve. But marine scientists recently called

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<v Speaker 1>on wine chemists to determine why plastic smells like food

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<v Speaker 1>to seabirds, and the chemists found out that when plastic

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<v Speaker 1>is left in the ocean, it gains a hint of

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<v Speaker 1>the sulfur compound dimethyl sulfide, or d m S, which

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<v Speaker 1>is a chemical released by algae. And even though it's stinky,

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<v Speaker 1>d MS is odor has been likened to rotten cabbages.

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<v Speaker 1>That smell is like a dinner bell for some long

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<v Speaker 1>billed super sniffer seabirds. The study, published in Science Advances,

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<v Speaker 1>examined why some seabirds mistake plastic for chow. It turns

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<v Speaker 1>out that d MS is a smell they associate with

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<v Speaker 1>the aroma of food. Well, once they realize they haven't

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<v Speaker 1>found food at all, it's too late. They've already got

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<v Speaker 1>a snootful and a belly fold of plastic. The study

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<v Speaker 1>also explains why some species such as petrols, albatross and

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<v Speaker 1>other tube noses are more prone to binging on plastic

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<v Speaker 1>than others. The studies lead author, Matthew Savoca, who participated

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<v Speaker 1>in it as a graduate student at e C. Davis,

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<v Speaker 1>explained the researchers angle in a press release. He said,

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<v Speaker 1>animals usually have a reason for the decisions they make.

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<v Speaker 1>If we want to truly understand why animals are eating

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<v Speaker 1>plastic in the ocean, we have to think about how

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<v Speaker 1>animals find food. Tube noses had already been shown to

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<v Speaker 1>follow their noses to food, and so the first step

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<v Speaker 1>for the study was to learn what plastic smells like

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<v Speaker 1>after it's been in the water. The scientists loaded pellets

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<v Speaker 1>of three common types of plastic, high density polyethylene, low

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<v Speaker 1>density polyethylene, and polypropylene into mesh bags and tied the

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<v Speaker 1>bags to a buoy in the ocean at Monterey Bay

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<v Speaker 1>and Bodega Bay off the California coast. Three weeks later,

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<v Speaker 1>the bags were collected, and then the wine experts at

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<v Speaker 1>the u C. Davis Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and

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<v Speaker 1>Food Science were called in. A chemical analyzer showed that

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<v Speaker 1>the plastics smelled of d MS thanks to algae that

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<v Speaker 1>had coated the plastic. The chemical is released when animals

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<v Speaker 1>such as krill, a tube nose favorite food eat the algae,

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<v Speaker 1>and this works to alert the birds to the presence

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<v Speaker 1>of a meal of their own. It's a case of

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<v Speaker 1>having a world class sniffer not being a good thing.

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<v Speaker 1>The researchers found that the seabirds that follow their noses

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<v Speaker 1>via d MS to food are almost six times more

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<v Speaker 1>likely to ingest plastic as other birds. Study estimated that

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<v Speaker 1>an alarming of seabirds eat plastic. Sharp pieces of plastic

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<v Speaker 1>can injure their internal organs, while soft pieces can affect

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<v Speaker 1>body weight. Since plastic takes up space in the stomach

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<v Speaker 1>without giving any nutrition. The health effects of plastic on

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<v Speaker 1>birds have not been completely studied, but more than four

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<v Speaker 1>point eight million metric tons of plastic waste are dumped

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<v Speaker 1>into the ocean every year. Some estimates put the amount

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<v Speaker 1>as high as twelve point seven million metric tons, so

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<v Speaker 1>this is another good reason to reduce, reuse, and or

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<v Speaker 1>recycle your plastics. Today's episode is based on the article

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<v Speaker 1>There's a Stinky Reason Seabirds eat plastic on how stuff

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<v Speaker 1>works dot com, written by Karen Kirkpatrick. Brain Stuff is

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<v Speaker 1>production by Heart Radio in partnership with how Stuff works

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