Are Balloons Lethal? How Rubber Is Harming Our Seabirds

Balloons are all fun and games when we hand them out at children’s parties but once the air fades and their amusement fades have you ever considered what happens towards the end of their life cycle? Well New Research from the University of Tasmania suggests that Seabirds who consume balloons are 32 times more likely to die than those that hadn’t eaten soft plastic. But why are our birds taking to Balloons for food and is there anything we can do to reduce our impact? To discuss, we interviewed Lauren Roman, PhD Student at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) at the University of Tasmania.