Check out this beautiful Caspian Tern, photographed by Alex Viduetsky from the oceanic jetty in Playa Del Rey, California.
Now look closer and you’ll see what Alex also saw: “Unexpectedly, a Caspian Tern with a fishhook in its right wing flew above my head. It made me think how many birds are getting hooked and how many of them are capable of breaking free?”
The answer is that we see many, many birds that have been hooked or entangled, and next to none of them are capable of unhooking themselves. Many hooks are ingested.
Fishing line and fish hooks are the single most frequent problem we treat at Bird Rescue. Please help by picking up fishing debris wherever you see it!