A team of activists, led by Chris Jordan, have been documenting the environmental tragedy that is unfolding on Midway Atoll. I have been so deeply touched by their work that I wanted to share this with others.
These islands are located in the North Pacific Ocean, and although they are remote, the remains of our consumer lifestyles wash up daily onto the shores. Toxic swirls of plastic flotsam from all over the world find a permanent home on these small secluded islands, at the expense of the inhabitants.
Every year thousands of dead infant and adult pacific albatross litter the island, among them are thousands more albatrosses slowly choking and starving. The birds decomposed bodies reveal the colourful culprits: milk tops, combs, pens, cigarette lighters etc. a signature of our insatiable consumerism, which lie nestled amongst the fragile bones and gentle feathers of these curious creatures.
Through skilled photography and storytelling they have produced a film, Midway: Message From the Gyre, [not yet released] that follows the lives of the great pacific albatross and their struggle against the never ending tide of plastic.
The way these gentle birds churn this plastic poison through their bodies with these deadly consequences is heartbreaking so I amassed a fair amount of research and began thinking about how to relay their story to my fellow students at Kingston University.