Where Plastic Goes When It Dies: Birds’ Stomachs

This nature photography by Chris Jordan isn’t for the faint of heart. The series of decomposing bird carcasses faithfully documents the impact of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch on albatross chicks in the Midway Atoll.

His collection of 30 hauntingly similar shots show what adult birds are feeding to their young: bottlecaps, lighters, spray bottles and, in one case, a piece of what looks to be a headphone.

From the photographer:

On this diet of human trash, every year tens of thousands of albatross chicks die on Midway from starvation, toxicity, and choking.

To document this phenomenon as faithfully as possible, not a single piece of plastic in any of these photographs was moved, placed, manipulated, arranged, or altered in any way. These images depict the actual stomach contents of baby birds in one of the world’s most remote marine sanctuaries, more than 2000 miles from the nearest continent.

It’s gross stuff, to say the least. Hopefully, if you’re buying every USB foot warmer cigarette lighter that Brando releases, you’re disposing of your plastics in a more sustainable way. (But really, in case it wasn’t clear, we don’t expect you to actually buy any of this junk…) [chris jordan via Treehugger]