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Waved Albatross (Diomedea irrorata), in flight, Española, Galapagos Islands: photo by putneymark, 17 August 2007
Magnificent in dreamed
air, ungainly on hard ground
stranded, the great sea bird that
once rolled with the clouds
and thought the eye of
the storm a place for rejoicing
now falls from the sky
wobbling on wet wings
with a belly full of plastic
Tristan Albatross (Diomedea dabbena), Tristan da Cunha: photo by michael clarke stuff, 23 February 2009
Wandering Albatross (Diomedea exulans), west coast of Rallier du Baty peninsula, Kerguelen Islands: photo by Dimitry Damasceno, 20 September 2004
Black-footed Albatross (Phoebastria nigripes), Hawaii, Leeward Islands, Pacific Ocean: photo by Dr. James P. McVey, NOAA Sea Grant, June 1969 (NOAA Photo Library)
Mated Laysan Albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis) pair: photo by James Lloyd, 2007
Remains of Laysan Albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis) chick at Midway Atoll with clear examples of ingested plastic flotsam. They are the probable cause of death due to their situation within the remains. The Cousteau team has shown that ingested plastic is a frequent cause of death for these birds. This may be due to the fact that floating debris often becomes covered with a layer of plant-life, marine crustaceans and their eggs, which is appealing to albatross: photo by Forest and Kim Starr, 2008 (USGS)
Tom,
ReplyDeleteYes indeed, on that twelve-foot wingspan, "Magnificent in dreamed/ air" -- but not with its belly full of plastic, alas. . . .
5.11
grey whiteness of fog against invisible
top of ridge, blue jay on redwood fence
in foreground, wave sounding in channel
parallel place, now that is
is therefore there is
also, relative to both, how
physical meaning time
lines of waves breaking across channel,
osprey with fish flapping toward ridge
Wonderful as this is as a poem and beautiful as this is (until you reach the bottom image) as a BTP post, its true value, I think, is the truth it reveals, publicizes and makes unforgettable. PETA, WWF, and Defenders of Wildlife should all post this. The poem is compact but has great breadth until it falls to earth. To think "the eye of
ReplyDeletethe storm a place for rejoicing" -- imagine that. I really love albatrosses. Curtis
Oh, God!
ReplyDeleteI agree with ACravan: this post should be shown everywhere. It's one of the most compelling statements on what we're doing to Nature that I have ever seen.
Indeed, the greatest wingspan of any living bird... but almost every species and subspecies of the Albatross is now threatened with extinction.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that our plastic trash floats to the farthest reaches of the globe, as though the oceans were our garbage disposal units.
The reverberations of this:
"...floating debris often becomes covered with a layer of plant-life, marine crustaceans and their eggs, which is appealing to albatross..."
are almost too horrifying to consider.
To the albatross, the lethal bits of plastic come with, in effect, a delicious sugar-coating.
Clever, clever homo sapiens.
Thanks for the poem - and the photos. Neat stuff.
ReplyDeleteWell, now that Blogger has been semi-restored to virtual life, I would like to be the first to seem to try to say how much I liked Reunion and the Marvell poem, as well as their images. The Marvell poem kept me semi-together over the past day-and-a-half. Curtis
ReplyDeleteIndeed, the greatest wingspan of any living bird... but almost every species and subspecies of the Albatross is now threatened with extinction.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that our plastic trash floats to the farthest reaches of the globe, as though the oceans were our garbage disposal units.
The reverberations of this:
"...floating debris often becomes covered with a layer of plant-life, marine crustaceans and their eggs, which is appealing to albatross..."
are almost too horrifying to consider.
To the albatross, the lethal bits of plastic come with, in effect, a delicious sugar-coating.
Clever, clever homo sapiens.