USFWS: Please Don’t Release Your Balloons
OutdoorHub Reporters 06.12.18
Officials with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are asking people to please stop releasing balloons into the air, because it’s becoming detrimental to wildlife.
One of the greatest wonders as a little kid was releasing a balloon up to the sky to see how high it would float until it was completely out of sight above the clouds. But once they’re out of our hands, balloons can pose a real threat to several species of animals on our planet.
“Birds, turtles and other animals commonly mistake balloons for food, which can harm or even kill them,” USFWS states in a news release.
The webpage also includes photos of birds tangled and dangling from power lines, and a turtle that appears to have choked on a balloon after it likely confused it with a jellyfish.
“Sea turtles are especially hit hard as they surface to breathe and eat and commonly eat balloons.”
In case you’ve been living underground, plastic has become a real threat to the health of our ecosystem. There’s enough making its way into our oceans already without any of our help, so it’s important we do what we can to help minimize the problem as much as possible.
Kudos to the USFWS for getting the conversation started on this one. The rest, is now up to us.
