Plastic Crisis

It was another day out photographing birds at Quidi Vidi lake when I saw a strange thing flying in the distance.  I got my camera and then realized it was a gull with a plastic bag flying over Quidi Vidi Lake in St. John’s, Newfoundland. 

At this point, I was feeling bad for the poor immature Iceland gull and tried to see where he was going to try and help him.  However, what came next I was not expecting.  A juvenile bald eagle saw him flying up the lake as well and it must of thought it was an easy meal.

The chase was on!

You can see the poor gull trying to get away but the plastic bag around his foot was slowing him down.

I thought it was all over for the immature gull as the bald eagle had him in his talons and the bag was weighting him down.

Has they hit the water the bag filled up with water and what got him in this mess was now the very thing that saved him.  

The bald eagle could not left the gull and a bag full of water.

The bald eagle waited on the edge of the ice until the gull tried to take off again.

Happily, for the gull that he was able to free himself from the plastic and was able to fly off.

Here the bald eagle watched as the immature Iceland gull flew off.

The bald eagle then left the area as well while the plastic bag remained in the water somewhere to create more problems for our beautiful wildlife. It was a happy ending this time but this is how our plastic trash influences the natural world. Please stop using plastic bags and other single use plastic items!