On another we came across a
massive ball of packing straps.
In Alaskan waters, packing
straps account for 50 percent
of Steller sea lion entanglements. A
strap slowly sawing its way into the
neck is a horrific way to die.
After a week at sea we had visited
nearly a dozen locations including
Gore Point, Point Blank, Shuyak
Island and Afogneck. Along the
way, Ocean Conservancy biologist
Nick Mallos collected 831 brightly
colored bottle caps, more than half
of which originated on the other
side of the Pacific. According to
Mallos, “sea birds like albatrosses
often mistake plastic bottle caps for
food. They take them back to their
chicks, which ingest them and perish
from gastrointestinal blockage and,
ultimately, starvation.”
During the final two days we
visited an isolated area called
Hallo Bay, which is part of Katmai
National Park. Hallo Bay is a remote
area, but it received an influx of
debris from the 2011 Japanese
tsunami. It’s also famous for grizzly
bears — park biologists estimate
that some 2,200 live in Katmai.
Before we arrived Katmai rangers
had collected more than 4,000
pounds of trash from the dunes
and beach. Some of this garbage
had been chewed on by bears.
According to park superintendent
Diane Chung, “Bears are very
fascinated by the marine debris,
especially plastic floats. Although
we haven’t documented any deaths,
we are concerned about the bears
being exposed not only to the
plastics but also to the toxins such
as lead that often coat these
items.”
Our visit to Hallo Bay was timed
to remove this trash and take it back
to Seward. It took our team nearly
13 hours to load everything with
the park service, which left only one
day to explore this beautiful area.
Until then we had only seen bears
from only a distance, but Hallo
Bay delivered the encounter with a
mother and her curious cubs that
none of us would ever forget.
Slowly the bears walked away
and we were left in astonished
silence. It was incredibly moving,
and some people were even
weeping. I had never planned on
coming face to face with a grizzly
during my trip to Alaska, but
encounters like this one change
people and remind why we protect
wild places. They also motivate us
to get involved — for the sake of
the sea life, the bears and our own
legacy on this planet.
— Kip Evans
|
23
find out more
To learn more about the expedition and the exhibit,
visit
.
In June 2013 a group of artists, scientists
and educators embarked on an expedition
in southwest Alaska to raise awareness of
plastic pollution in the sea. In addition
to cleaning up beaches and interacting
with local wildlife, the participants
created an art exhibit that’s now on
display at the Anchorage Museum.
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