Images of sea animals being trapped or killed because of plastic disposed off on beaches and in oceans is not new. Be it fishes trapped in plastic bags, tortoises caught in nets, birds chewing on cigarette stubs or frisbees stuck around heads of seals.?
But new and equally more dangerous - if not more - elements are being disposed off in nature, apparently without any treatment, amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.?Image of dog in rummaging through PPE kits in roadside dustbins, or a large number of facemasks disposed on various beaches have already been doing rounds on the internet and they are a matter of concern.?
Now an image of a seagull carrying a discarded disposable face mask in its beak, is going viral on social media.?
It was recently shared on Twitter by IFS Susanta Nanda with the caption, ¡®The mask that masks the human face, Also shows our character as a species when it comes off¡¯.
¡®Please be responsible in disposing them. The world belongs equally to our co inhabitants¡¯, he further wrote.?
A simple back search on the image showed us that the image has been around from at least September last year. Burnham and Highbrige Weekly News, talked about the image and reported that the photo was captured on shore at Weston-super-Mare, around Bank Holiday Monday.
According to the report, 52-year-old funeral bearer, Nick, cycling through his home town at lunchtime on the last day of the Bank Holiday weekend was shocked by the sad sight.
"I'd been out and about on my bicycle down the seafront and through town and I just started to notice all these face masks discarded everywhere. I took some photos and then I caught this seagull with one in his beak, he was only young and was pulling it about, it was upsetting to see,¡± the publication quoted him as saying.?
"I stopped one of the local binmen when I was out who was quoting a couple a hundred a day that they're picking up. It's becoming a real problem with people being reluctant to pick them up and put them in the bin so they just get left until people with the tweezer sticks or gloves come along,¡± he further said.?
He rightly pointed out that "Face masks have become the new hazardous waste appearing round the town and it's now obviously affecting the wildlife."
At a personal level, all you can do is dispose the masks properly in bins and not litter, and make sure people around you do the same.