Midway. Message from the Gyre

[davetsu77]

red bottle caps......coca cola

[sherry123456782596]

what is the thing at 5:45

[phildoughty]

Nothing quite like a piece of World war 2-esk violin music to set the mood

[Hilda12251]

Generalmente no somos conscientes del impacto que crea nuestra basura cotidiana. Nos la sacamos de encima y nos olvidamos. Ilustrativo y sugerente el video. Gracias!

[MultipleColoredChloe]

I am completely disgusted. Imagine the birds attempting to feed their young, bringing back whatever they can find, but their young is never satisfied, due to there not being any nutrients in the plastic. They eat it until their stomachs are completely full of the plastic, and they die from internal bleeding, malnutrition, or dehydration. Think about how hungry you would have to be to eat such large pieces of plastic. This disgusts me. :(

[journeytomidway]

The Midway team is returning to Midway in a few days for the 3rd time. Midway was hit by the tsunami and thousands of baby Albatross chicks have died as a result. We will have the unprecedented opportunity to see what they've been eating.

Please follow along on our website and Facebook page.

[tirulor]

masya alloh.....

klakuane menungso sing garai koyok ngunuwi....

guwak sampah karepe dewe...

sampek manuk raruh opo-opo mdadi korban.........

[gilangandikac]

How could those birds ate those sort of plastics?

[birdsinheaven]

@gilangandikac Their parents gave them to their sons..

[CubanExile]

Shame on us ! !

[TheCaptainLulz]

@rhinolophidae Chemically it is organic, its a hydrocarbon. And there are e-coli that have been made, and that are found around the planet that will eat the stuff. But most of that plastic will decompost in another 50 years because of the sun. UV rays from the sun strike the molecules of the plastic and break them appart. Its still a giant problem though, 0as itèll keep killing wildlife until it does break down.

[TheCaptainLulz]

I wonder how long it will take for the sun to decompose that plastic? Im also wondering if one of the inumerable species of bacteria will find a way to use it as food.

[henryrollo]

If you care about this issue check out Project Kaisei. The project is currently fundraising to take a barge out to the gyre and fill it with plastic!! Pretty sweet!

[Bonsbolquers]

con el chapapote de la costa atlántica sera más y en blanco y negro!!!

[spencerchef]

Its just kinda crazy seeing the decomposing remains of the bird and no hope to show the plastic deterioating.

[Kristofvandenbroucke]

Incredible. It's time to stop polluting the oceans, clean out the plastic islands we created. Good job confronting people with it. Nobody realizes how polluted the oceans are and a walk on the beach shows only a small part of our pollution....

[Chypps]

Wow, Mankind- didn't you know that killing an albatross is bad luck?

[chenoadj]

I am crying... can you imagine the pain these birds experienced as they died a slow death and we see the pictures, but we don't hear them screaming.... nice music though

[duck24x]

(reply to YT'ers suggestion that maybe these albatross could evolve to consume plastic): OR, what's far QUICKER, maybe WE could & SHOULD evolve our BRAINS much faster NOT to be taken in by extremist free-market consumerism rhetoric religion.

[rooters11]

It's sad, but something to me invokes evolution and the albatross that eat's the plastic will die out, thouse that don't will survive and reproduce a non plastic eating albatross. So all is not lost.............

[pseudotruth]

@rooters11

Your comment is so full of stupid!

The changes being forced upon many species are manifold and too rapid for evolution of almost any organisms but bacteria. Plastic garbage is just one threat. Add to that climate change. biotoxins and over harvesting and you have a perfect recipe for mass extinction.

[rooters11]

@pseudotruth - How do you know changes required are too rapid for evolution?

[pseudotruth]

@rooters11

A simple test is to look at biodiversity, is it

a) increasing,

b) stable or

c) declining?

If ecosystems are stable there will be no decline in biodiversity. If human effects are beneficial, one would expect an increase, but if human factors are adverse, a decline would be expected. All ecosystems demonstrate a sharp & massive decline.

Biodiversity decline indicates populations cannot evolve fast enough. We'll be left with the inedible and revolting, everything else will be gone,

[Matt3471]

Wow, that's just awful.

[Fringe111]

Oh man, pictures are worth a thousand word here.

[playa1313]

Wow, I mean I expected to see one or two pieces of plastic inside them. But these birds are filled with plastic. How sad :(

[1jeffjohn]

ive been there im from us i take planes to some water parks except keansburg its close

[bardofely]

Truly the saddest video I have ever seen!

[WayneGumm]

Truly heartbreaking. Even if we start using biodegradable plastics today, it won't be able to undo all the damage caused by the gyre that's been collecting plastic debris since the end of the Second World War. Solutions, anyone?

[pennilesscripple]

yes

halt the production of plastic

[ahmi94]

It's too awful to see this pictures

[skateVA1011]

I'm not a hippie but I still kinda care about the enviorment this is a sad thing to see it's videos like these tht make me 2nd guess myself about throwing trash on the ground

[solariis888]

That's right gman, keep your shit up and I'll send your own people to hunt you. I'm the wrong individual to be messing with.

[liOVERLOADil]

Hahaha!! Oh Solariss, you keep me entertained on a daily basis with your nonsense. Wrong individual, bwahahahaha!! Yeah, ok hippie -- go take a shower.

[solariis888]

I keep you entertained, lol... you astound me with your moronic behaviour. Seriously, could you be more stupid and contrived. Go to hell, I'm blocking you fool.

[liOVERLOADil]

You can't block me from replying to your comments. Hahahaha!

[solariis888]

"You are like a soft, mad child, snug in his woolly, cotton dreams of infancy."

~James Edward Morrison

[liOVERLOADil]

I love how you deleted all your insane comments.

[solariis888]

@liOVERLOADil I love how the truly insane people like you are about to burn in hell.

[liOVERLOADil]

Got nothin else huh?

[solariis888]

@liOVERLOADil I don't need anything else, huh?

[liOVERLOADil]

Sense: You make none.

[solariis888]

@liOVERLOADil I don't to an idiot like you, who thinks he's yoda. Go tell some kids there's no Santa Claus or something idiot. lol...

[liOVERLOADil]

You don't what "...to an idiot like" me? Also, I guess you didn't notice the colon.

[solariis888]

@liOVERLOADil Arguing semantics with an utter moron is like trying to deal with a politician.

[liOVERLOADil]

I'm sure you've argued with SO many politicians before too... I still can't get over how you lied about being a biologist. Science coming from you would be like...well it would be like intelligence coming from you.

[solariis888]

@liOVERLOADil Keep thinking that, and yes you are exactly like most politicians I've met and I've met many, lol, they lie like your whore mother lies.

[liOVERLOADil]

Normally I would say that most politicians aren't even an excuse for dog excrement, but if you say they're that bad, maybe I've got it all wrong about them... My whore mother! You bring smiles to my face regularly, hahahaha!!

[solariis888]

Only scum like you would smile, keep hell warm for all the like, including politicians.

[DarkSummoner2]

Don't argue with a person like him, solariis888 :)

One must not convince every stupid and crude person :)

[liOVERLOADil]

That had nothing to do with the question I asked moron. No, you aren't a biologist, a biologist would have responded with a logical answer, you responded with nonsense emotion. On top of this, not a single thing on your YouTube channel says you are a biologist.

[solariis888]

@solariis888 knew...

[poxrider]

@solariis888

You should remove ALL your comments and then remove yourself as well, you moron.

[solariis888]

@poxrider go to hell with your family

[liOVERLOADil]

I'm watching you; I am we, we are they. Everyone you know is in on it and we're recording your every move...and I don't have a website.

[solariis888]

dimesions... lol

you pissed me off so much, I mispelled and put you instead of your.

comma too, hey I'm not a lit. major. lol...

what a moron.

I have a question for you: How do you watch this and question the validity of the video?

[pravdaeli]

We do get enough warnings from the system we call Earth that we are the next species on the list of extinction

[SunriseNYC999]

2:10 and 3:10 and 4:17 clearly show this video was manucatured fictional video by the film maker's ddeliberate intentions. Specifically, it is impossibe to place objects, which are bigger than the stomach and other intestine of the creature. This is a political propaganda video.

[liOVERLOADil]

Thank you! I've been saying the same thing! How can a bird digestive system contain more plastic than the whole of the body cavity????

[walteredstates]

@liOVERLOADil

It can't.

The cavity is stretchy,unlike the plastic. Young animals eat anything their parents bring them [hunger, survival]. Also, you might not be aware of just how large albatrosses actually are - the decomp.carcasses don't convey the scale very life like. If it 'consoles' you the local ferry Co.'s here in Moreton Bay have equivalent photos of dead turtles, mostly with plasticBAGS inside them, in the passenger areas to educate people not to throw plastic into the ocean.

[walteredstates]

@SunriseNYC999

A political propaganda video for the scheming, lobbying, possibly indecent Albatross Party? ..OR: Worse, perhaps a conspiracy of non-speaking, non-camera-using creatures AND environmentally unstable, soppy humans? You might be onto something, chief. Well, good work, son, as you were, stay safe, stay in denial!

[liOVERLOADil]

I find it very hard to believe that those birds died from plastic. Compare the size of the pile with the size of the bird -- how is it possible for a bird stomach to contain THAT much plastic. Impossible. Not that I'm saying plastic doesn't kill birds, but there is something else going on that puts that much plastic there. Perhaps a bird carcass serves as a pseudo shoreline for plastic bits, and they build-up on the carcass.

[liOVERLOADil]

Oh, I'm sorry for bringing biology into this phenomenon. I'm usually a critical thinker and don't often believe whats presented to me unless its irrefutable. Maybe I shouldn't have been so civil, maybe I should just attack people who I don't agree with. Maybe its these reasons why I am in fact "a utter moron".

[liOVERLOADil]

You are so completely out of your mind that everything I say seems offensive to you...but I will try one more time. Please refer back to my original post, my question was this: How can a bird contain as much plastic as in the video, it doesn't seem biologically possible. This is a legitimate question of capacity. Within a bird are many various muscles and organs and if these plastics were in the digestive system it would encompass about 90% of the bird. How is that possible?

[solariis888]

I would be completely out of my mind to continue this inane argument with and absolute zombie such as yourself. I am a biologist so I know just how ignorant your original post truly was. lol... its just a shame you don't.

[liOVERLOADil]

YOU ARE NOT A BIOLOGIST! Not a single bit of your arguments have been based on any form of science or even biology for that matter. How dare you falsely claim to be something that you are not! I've made my point pretty clear as to what I'm asking. You, an obviously insane nut-job however, took it as an attack on your cause. Regardless, I received my answer from Walteredstates, and he wasn't even in this thread. Why don't you go read the response...biologist.

[AquaticBuddha]

It doesn't 'clean' the ocean you imbecile. What's clear from these photos is that the plastic remains long, long after the birds are dead and thus can kill again and again.

I'll post this on my FB. Nice one, Chris.

[fortpp1]

That's one way to clean the ocean.

[geslks]

Man is a terrible beast is he is not held accountable for every move: Good job Chris, hope this makes a difference.

[dmb103]

The far reaching impact of man. No place and nothing is safe from this impact any longer. The conscious awareness that erupted in the 60's has had little effect to curtail such impact. Consumerism is what drives the modern day economy. It won't be long till we become the Albatross.

[liOVERLOADil]

If man is such a global problem, then there is only ONE solution... and I think we all know what that is.

[OtacontheOtaku]

@dmb103

Yes, indeed. No cliche and nothing is truism form this impact any platitude.

[maxxiscopolis]

One of the most moving videos I have seen in a long time.

[armadillozenith]

Chris, thanks for posting this. You were there on the spot, in a position to act with responsibility and humanity - and have done so. Well done.. and for this I call you friend.

[denisethier]

Thanks Chris for your work.

[titre31]

Bonjour,

Si ces photos ne sont pas truquées nous sommes vraiment des enfants de Salop et ne méritons pas le nom d'Homme.

Au nom de tous ces Innocents que nous martyrisons, assassinons, à quand notre extermination de cette belle TERRE.

[TenebrousLyke]

"And when she tried to cross the albatross,

A war was waged at such a cost,

Ac the end grew near,

It remained unclear,

just what was gained and who had lost."

Lookatbook

That's awful...

[takachi2003]

Genau deshalb spende ich zu Weihnachten an den Bund Naturschutz. Und nicht an eine Organisation, deren Ziel es ist, noch mehr Menschen auf diesem Planeten durchzufüttern. Ich weiss, das klingt brutal. Aber Menschen sind nicht gerade von Aussterben bedroht. Viele Tiere schon. Ich bin da sehr pragmatisch.

[rozl66]

Thank you Chris for your "art"... It has enlightened me and those images of those graceful birds being poisoned by man's ignorance, greed and selfishness will haunt my my mind forever. Beautiful yet extremely sad.

[ultravioletdivine]

The only answer to this is what has now become almost impossible for us: Boycott Plastic. It is unnatural and never biodegrades. There is NOTHING on the planet that eats it, so even if the pieces break up, it's still plastic all the way down to microscopic. It is a cancer on the Earth. I would even go so far as to call it Evil.

This is what happens when we invent and produce with no thought to long term consequences or concern for an ethic that sees bigger than (very) short term human benefit.

[inlovewithsammy]

So sad.

[milkysvart]

it is sad.....to see this....Hope more and more human being realized wht we are doing...

[sakeena76]

Thank you for posting this

[madamefolger]

please keep going with your work. it's so very important to us all.

[m12x12]

Chris, Thank you so much. The images are horrible, haunting, and strangely beautiful, as you intended. I was shocked to learn that 80% of Pacific Gyre plastic debris comes from LA basin runoff: hundreds of miles of collecting sewers channel surface trash into the LA River, a garbage freeway to the sea. I joined Friends of LA River to support riverfront redevelopment but have come to recognize that the burning issue is FoLAR's work on river cleanup and watershed environmental impact.

[herbprof1]

Better living through chemistry has brought us this iceberg that we only see the tip of here.

Dr. Paul Blake N.D.

[sivartis]

I hope the folks in Copenhagen see this and address it.

Amazing, haunting, and devastating.

Thank you.

~Trav

[macellario]

go to the market with your own reusable bag; get food to go and bring ur own container, capture and reuse the rainwatter that falls for free on your roof, something still more basic - turn of the light you are not using in the other room at this moment! thanks chris for your work

[macellario]

have u ever seen a species that just kills one of their own just for the sake of killing? what else can we expect from us... we live piled up in cities and have completely forgotten about nature and the life cycle of it. just sad but we gotta make our sand grain difference everyday...

[hellavadeal]

Thanks

[alanzulch]

In 1984 I sailed around the world on a ship and saw firsthand how the crew regularly tossed giant plastic bag after giant plastic bag full of trash overboard, leaving a long line of garbage bobbing in the wake. It was standard protocol for passenger liners, done early in the am or late at night mostly. In such behavior lies the source...an outdated idea of out-of-sight-is-out-of-mind. Now all that remains is that we're out-of-our-minds.

[LightSpirit24]

I saw this topic on 60 minutes several years ago. I am surprised it is still allowed on cruise ships.

I guess that can't have a landfill on a cruise ship, the passengers wouldn't stand for the smell. But they could lock up the trash in a container and have it removed when they get to port. But this cost more money, and for them to do it, means we the people have to demand it.

[Luubelaar]

So sad. They literally die of starvation, with a belly full of undigestable plastic rubbish. Then when their carcass rots away, the platic rubbish is still there, and becomes clearly seen. So very very sad. A lot of pelicans die in similar ways, having eaten plastic bags floating in the water, after mistaking them for fish.

[DrGull1888]

Apocalyptic.

[Lagolop]

musicofmali

Are you cracked!? I have seen first hand on Midway; far too many decomposing bodies loaded with big lighters, etc. Hard to imagine how they can hold so much in them before they die and what a death that must be. All of these pics are absolutely true and heart breaking. All thanks to to the North Pacific Gyre and humans. Our species used this planet as a toilet.

[sikurzu]

Fake!

Evidence, foreign colorful material, placed in rotting bird carcasses. It's clearly visible. Sorry. & Bye.

[marinereve]

You visibly don't know what you're talking about

[humblesage]

Does it matter? We must learn to live different, we must recycle. We do get enough warnings from the system we call Earth that we are the next species on the list of extinction

[j0roach]

Thanks for creating this, Chris. Its a tragic and simple metaphor for much of human folly, and shows just how far we have to go to right our wrongs. If indeed we can.

[wkeswater]

I agree, what are we doing to our planet?

[deshellmon]

I have sailed hundreds of miles at sea and still one sees plastic float by. Thanks for such a moving video showing the effects of such. Even more tragic is one can go to islands out in the middle of nowhere and see plastic sand. What are we doing to our planet?

[marcoilbiondo]

Souvent, pour s'amuser, les hommes d'équipage

Prennent des albatros, vastes oiseaux des mers,

Qui suivent, indolents compagnons de voyage,

Le navire glissant sur les gouffres amers.

A peine les ont-ils déposés sur les planches,

Que ces rois de l'azur, maladroits et honteux,

Laissent piteusement leurs grandes ailes blanches

Comme des avirons traîner à côté d'eux.

[...] Charles Baudelaire

[senormechanico]

I'm going to burn all scrap plastic instead of putting it in the garbage !

[humblesage]

Please do not do this, it creates toxic fumes which are equally harmfull

[dickyco2]

Plastic , yet another greed driven product brought to us all by Big Oil, not content with rupturing the atmosphere with unrestrained burning , greater profit could be made from unrestrained use of toxic Oil based plastics.

No wonder they are the richest most profitable companies in Human history.

Big Oil, Pure Money worshiping Evil.

[CineSkinnys]

This was used in the English media recently though I'd seen it on the web site a few days before. It's terrific work and certainly on a par with the Katrina aftermath work which I love for haunted reasons. Thank you for bringing it to our attention. Richard Baker, London.

[fuuuuus]

This massacre doesn't any artistic aspect. This is a catastrophic failure of the age of capitalism, a social disease which politicians are not interested resolving.

[humblesage]

Correct, please let us not forget that politicians are in the business to get elected, not in the business to change the world. That is our job.

[torpeligneB]

ce qui est bien, c'est qu'on va disparaitre. Ce qui est triste, c'est pour tout ce qu'on va emporter avec nous.

[unusmundusFR]

Vivement que notre modele societale consumeriste disparaisse.

[hsilva3]

conseguirá as novas gerações alterar o rumo deste planeta?

eu ainda quero acreditar que é possível....

[riddlywalker]

the product you held in your hand yesterday is part of a floating raft of rubbish killing as it goes. Designers have the power to change our habits and stop this from happening- or they can, with pressure from all of us, create a cleaner, safer environment.

We are an obese culture- eating ourselves to death.

[millersxtremedepot]

We are a parasite on this planet and if things don't change, the planet will fix itself by wiping us off of it!

[zubumbu]

Can somebody please explain, why they eat the plastic in the first place?

[projectdurden]

Its colorful and the birds probably think colorful things are food, which is the case in nature most of the time.

[himasf]

'Coz they're dumb. Even my guinea pig knows plastic is not food.

[magnvss]

No, they are not. In the past eating colorful things meant eating colorful tropical fishes. Nowadays -more or less 60 years since plastic- it means death. We introduce strange not organic long lasting gargabe to the enviroment. They are just paying the extinction price.

[Kinetique]

Even my guinea pig knows comments like yours are dumb.

[kidpan]

Chris-

Powerful, gut-wrenching, achingly provocative art. Nature is indeed the most powerful of collage artists especially when it shocks us into thinking. You have captured it in all its' tragedy and painful beauty. Christen's music was equally evocative.

Paul

[LillieJinx]

C'est terrifiant! On attend quoi pour faire quelque chose? On attend quoi pour changer?

[motinaja]

Heart wrenching. I have sent your link to IMO, WWF, Nat Geo and many others. May every one eventually see this. How do we reach the south east asian sailors ?

[tylerboyd11]

Sad as it is real.....let's hope we can educate and help....as difficult as it is....Halden Evans Head Wildlife Rescue

[chrisholder1]

Hard to watch this. Sad, horrific. Tears, fears, anger and commitment all well inside me. A beautiful portrayal of our betrayal of our animal kin. May the beauty of the music and the power of the images be the first gift to the fallen and the endangered, but not the last. Thank you Chris, Christen, Manuel, Victoria & Bill.

[dorno4]

TRISTE Y DOLOROSO

[leifutne]

Beautiful, and painful. There's no way to transform consciousness without having our hearts ripped open ...

A deep bow to all the artists involved in this project. Keep up the great work.

Be well, Rick

[angiekomar]

"There's no way to transform consciousness without having our hearts ripped open ..."

What a sad but beautiful expression...and so so true. Why is not the potential of the worst case scenario never enough for the majority of people to change their mindsets - it is usually when the damage has been done and it is too late...

[dameknkyansmom]

Wow! Great work.

A very poignant message for the time we are living in. Proof that the choices we make don't just stay close to home and that we are all interconnected.

[czevon]

I have sent this link to everyone I can think of. I can't imagine anyone who could carelessly toss aside plastic after seeing this. Thank you.

[TheUrbanhippy]

That was absolutely heart wrenching! I've been watching the whole journey, and I now find myself thinking about Midway in the grocery store, trying to purchase the least amount of plastic as possible, and thinking ahead to what I can reuse for something else if I absolutely have to buy it. I also bought a refillable lighter so that I never have to buy a disposable again.

Thank you Chris and the team! You guys are amazing, inspiring, and brave beyond belief. Beautiful.

Peace,

T...