I have always admired the majesty of bald eagles. So when I discovered the Hancock Wildlife Foundationand its live webcams installed near bald eagle nests, I was thrilled. I opened a small window on my computer screen and I could admire the eaglets progressively transforming into magnificent birds. I must admit that the life of a baby bald eagle is pretty boring at times, but the parts when a parent comes back to the nest with some food for the eaglets is quite fascinating.
Two weeks ago, however, disaster struck and it was all because of discarded plastic… One of the three eaglets of the Victoria/Sydney nest got caught in some fishing line that must have been used to build the nest. The poor thing was not able to move and therefore could not meet its parents to get fed when they would bring food to the nest. Many of the thousands of people watching got really upset and started raising money to fund a rescue operation. Fortunately, within days of the incident, a crane was commissioned and Mr. Hancock, the operator of the webcams, was able to free the poor eaglet from the fishing line. As of today, it is still alive and seems to be doing quite well. Go take a look. Click on the image below.
What I find really sad is thinking of the thousands of birds and other animals that get tangled in plastic fishing lines or other plastic hazards every day and die in complete isolation. It just so happened that because watchers could see the eaglet struggle, they decided to spend a large sum of money to save it. Suddently, its life was priceless. I wish we could find a way to make people realize the dangers that discarded plastic poses to wildlife without having to install webcams all over the place. Yikes, that sounds ominous.
Go ahead and open a little window on your computer screen (my favorite nest is the White Rock). These birds will become your daily companions and you will want them to survive, no matter what.
Chantal Plamondon, Co-Owner
LifeWithoutPlastic.com