A danger to farming and now wildlife

johngalway

Story tells all really. An incendiary device let float off into the sky to land who knows where, and a wire hazard at it's destination.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-15439322

Traonach

Poor owl:(

LostCovey

johngalway wrote: »

Story tells all really. An incendiary device let float off into the sky to land who knows where, and a wire hazard at it's destination.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-15439322

I saw a few of them coming over the hill on New Year's Eve from some party and wondered what would happen if they landed in a hayshed or on a plastic oil tank.

You could be prosecuted if you threw something like that out of a car, but not if you drop it out of the sky it seems.

They are for sale in filling stations all round the country.

LC

magicbastarder

danger to air traffic too; i'm sure a jet engine wouldn't like ingesting one of them.

magicbastarder

pity though; i saw my first barn owl in flight only last sunday evening, it flew about thirty foot in front of the car. lovely beast.

recedite

I'd be surprised if an owl flew into one of those things. Unless it was a blind owl, in which case it shouldn't have been flying.

Kess73

recedite wrote: »

I'd be surprised if an owl flew into one of those things. Unless it was a blind owl, in which case it shouldn't have been flying.

Would guess that the lantern was on the ground or stuck in a tree/bush when the owl got tangled up in it.

recedite

Maybe I'm just a sceptic, but the whole thing looks suspicious to me.

kildare.17hmr

Any of them lanterns iv bought and used have been 100% biodegradable, the ring around the base was made of bamboo fibers iirc

Run_to_da_hills

It looks to me as if that the owl wasn't that wise.

kildare.17hmr wrote: »

Any of them lanterns iv bought and used have been 100% biodegradable, the ring around the base was made of bamboo fibers iirc

They should also make the balloon part out of rice paper and the ring part out of spaghetti so that the cattle can eat them, this would keep the farmers happy.

johngalway

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

They should also make the balloon part out of rice paper and the ring part out of spaghetti so that the cattle can eat them, this would keep the farmers happy.

It's not just that, think of one of them landing in a crop field or on a dry bog, there are enough lunatics around starting fires when the weather gets dry without these things flying around too.

Traonach

The thread reminds me of this.

I took this photo of this poor yellow legged gull with the plastic stuck in his mouth. I was unable to catch him to try and free him:(:(:(:(.

Run_to_da_hills

Traonach wrote: »

The thread reminds me of this.

I took this photo of this poor yellow legged gull with the plastic stuck in his mouth. I was unable to catch him to try and free him:(:(:(:(.

The only way around this is to force manufactures to design animal / sealife friendly designs or ban current designs like plastic 6 pack beer can rings.

In Today's Daily Mail.







http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2100906/Horrific-marine-agency-images-reveal-ocean-debris-maiming-killing-loved-sea-creatures.html

Birdnuts

There was a scientist on radio recently that said according to latest estimates based on samples, there is now 6 times as much plastic rubbish in our seas by weight then there is fish food(plankton). He added that only now is it dawning on authorites how contaminated all levels of the the marine food chain are with plastic and other man made chemicals. Sampling of sea-food destained for human consumption has only just started but already the results suggest a similiar worry trend. Personally I'd ban all disposable plastic in the morning!!

magicbastarder

if you want a depressing read, read the chapter on plastic in 'the world without us'; virtually every single piece of plastic ever made still exists, unless it's been incinerated.

Young Farmer

what is that in the last picture

johngalway

Birdnuts wrote: »

There was a scientist on radio recently that said according to latest estimates based on samples, there is now 6 times as much plastic rubbish in our seas by weight then there is fish food(plankton). He added that only now is it dawning on authorites how contaminated all levels of the the marine food chain are with plastic and other man made chemicals. Sampling of sea-food destained for human consumption has only just started but already the results suggest a similiar worry trend. Personally I'd ban all disposable plastic in the morning!!

I dunno about the weight of plastic, but walk any beach or shore that has loose weed on the high water mark and look what's in it, peppered with junk.

Tabnabs

The Coastguard have big problems with these lanterns also
http://www.rte.ie/news/av/2011/0119/media-2889606.html

Birdnuts

johngalway wrote: »

I dunno about the weight of plastic, but walk any beach or shore that has loose weed on the high water mark and look what's in it, peppered with junk.

Tell me bout it!! - every time I visit the place I have by the shore in North Mayo, I collect bags of plastic junk washed in by the tide:mad: - Plastic bottles and various types of plastic wrap are the main constituents - all of which can be recycled, but why bother when you can mindlessly chuck it in the sea:rolleyes::(:mad:

Kess73

johngalway wrote: »

I dunno about the weight of plastic, but walk any beach or shore that has loose weed on the high water mark and look what's in it, peppered with junk.

If you think what you can see on the shoreline is bad, you should see what is underwater in some locations around Ireland, both in fresh and salt water.

I dive a bit in Ireland and abroad, and what you see on the shoreline is often just the tip of the iceberg in terms of rubbish build up. I got the chance to dive in Lough Derg some time back and was disgusted and saddened by the amount of junk in some locations. The same locations had proper bin facilities right near the shoreline.

magicbastarder

a huge proportion of the plastic in the ocean is in the form of nurdles - i.e. the pellets of plastic as they are supplied to companies which use it as a raw material. they'd be a few mm in diameter.

BargainHunter

Most of the plastic I see on the shoreline, is bits of fishing gear.

Fishermen are killing their own business by discarding broken gear in the sea. When they go out of business because theres no fish left, the public wont have any sympathy for them.