World Press Photo Contest 2017

Photo by Francis Perez - EPA

Nature - Singles - First Prize

The only thing this photo has to do with birds is the fact that it was taken in the 'Canary Islands'.   The photo captures the grimness of reality for this sea turtle entangled in a fishing net as it tries to swim off the coast of Tenerife in the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean, west of Morocco.   No words are needed to embellish the image's impact.

 Photo: PA

  Photo: Alex Hofford / EPA

Elsewhere, 2,900 kms. (1,800 miles) north, in Cornwall, England, tiny plastic pellets, known as 'nurdles', are seen on the beaches at Tregantle Cove, near Newquay.   Nurdles are lentil-size plastic pellets used as a raw material by industry to make plastic products.   England's Guardian newspaper reports that nurdles find their way into waterways and end up on 73% of United Kingdom beaches.   The Guardian also reports that waste nurdles already number in the billions.   Most alarming is the fact that anything that eats plankton or fish eggs, also mistakenly eat nurdles which of course have no food value and also contain PCBs.   This includes birds.   70 different species of of seabirds are known to ingest nurdles.  
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