Scientists discover why 3 million shearwater birds washed up on Australia’s east coast in 2013
Brinkwire, Other, 28/03/2021, Jonathan Edwards
A chance encounter between two very different scientists has solved the mystery of why three million dead birds washed up on the Australian east coast eight years ago. There was a mass fatality of short-tailed shearwater birds in 2013, which researchers have now discovered was caused by starving birds eating volcanic rock and plastic out of desperation. CSIRO scientist Lauren Roman, a researcher on plastic congestion in seabirds, said it was an odd coincidence the hundreds of ocean birds that washed up on a beach right next to her research station were full of pumice.