Conserve Wildlife Blog

Posts Tagged ‘marine debris’

Marine debris: Post-Sandy

Monday, August 26th, 2013
Is there more debris on coastal saltmarshes?

by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager

Use the tennis ball as a reference point...

Use the tennis ball as a reference point…

Last year I started collecting trash and marine debris that I found at osprey nests along the Atlantic Coast. I’ve always removed trash from nests, especially trash that can harm an osprey through entanglement. Now it’s collected to use as an educational tool to make people more aware of the amount of trash that winds up in our waterways. (more…)

Marine Debris

Thursday, September 6th, 2012
Threatens NJ’s wildlife

by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager

Trash collected from 112 osprey nests from as far north as Monmouth and south to Atlantic City, New Jersey. © Ben Wurst

Marine debris (specifically plastics) have become a  serious problem in coastal areas throughout the world, especially in the Pacific Ocean where gyres create large floating “garbage patches.” I work out on the back bays and salt marshes throughout the coastal region of New Jersey as I help to monitor and manage ospreys and their nesting platforms. Every time I’m out I encounter trash. Most of it accumulates along the wrack line on the higher portions of the marsh where storm surges, high winds, and during spring tides (during full and new moon phases) push it onto the marsh. This debris then makes its way into the nests of ospreys because this is where they collect most of their nesting material.

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