albatross stomach

 


THE ART: "Albatross (Synthetic Sea)"
THE ISSUE: Plastics in our oceans resulting in bird deaths.

"Albatross (Synthetic Sea)" (2007)
Choreographed by Monica Favand Campagna in collaboration with Denesa Chan, Andriana Mitchell, Taryn Wayne, Tomas Tamayo
Composer: Charlie Campagna
Musicians: Charlie Campagna, Andrew Tabb & Hector Torres
Costume Designer: Monica Campagna
Performers Above: Denesa Chan (Aerial soloist), Monica Campagna, Andriana Mitchell & Taryn Wayne
Taped: April 2007- Unknown Theater, Los Angeles by Carol Gehring

"Albatross (Synthetic Sea)" premiered in 2007 as part of TRIP Dance Theatre's evening length work, "Poisoning the Well". This piece, and much of "Poisoning the Well" was inspired by a series of articles in the Los Angeles Times, "Altered Oceans", which focused on the peril of our oceans due to toxic waste, plastics, fertilizer run-off, algae blooms, over-fishing etc. - all due to modern human industry. Special thanks to Denesa Chan for contributing her experties in "aerial tissue" dance.

Albatross (Synthetic Sea) concerns the massive quantities of plastics that enter our oceans daily thanks to trash that ends up in sewers which lead to oceans, trash that blows into our oceans such as plastic bags, trash that is dumped from ships, etc. There are two swirling “gyres” of plastic in the Pacific Ocean. The “Eastern Garbage Patch” near Hawaii is twice the size of the state of Texas. In these areas, there are 6 times more plastics than plankton. Plastics swirl for approximately 16 years before falling to the ocean floor and breaking down into microscopic pieces. 40% of the ocean’s surface has become an accumulator of floating plastics. Approximately 100,000 marine mammals, including sea turtles, die annually from ingesting plastics.

Albatross are birds that live near and feed from the ocean. They often eat pinkish plastics thinking they are shrimp or shrimp eggs that are often attached to plastic - feeding their young and eventually dying when their stomachs become too full of garbage to make room for real food. Often the plastic is re-eaten by other animals, since it takes (we guess) 500-1000 years for the plastics to break down.

ACTION: There is one simple action we can all take that will have an enormous impact on the health of our planet and its inhabitants. The next time you shop, don't leave the store carrying a plastic bag. If everyone did this, one of the most lethal polluters created by man would be removed from circulation. Americans throw away approx. 100 billion polyethylene bags yearly. Of those 100 trillion plastic bags, 1% are recycled. >READ MORE.

>LEARN about plastics and the threat to marine mammals HERE.
>ACTION Ban plastic bags in Los Angeles - SIGN THIS PETITION!

Left: the disturbing image of the contents of an Albatross' stomach.

  
 
TRIP Dance Theatre site (c) 2007 - Design/Artwork: Monica Favand Campagna - e: trip@tripdance.org - Background incorporates photo by Ron Bartlett of Denesa Chan.