Earth Day brings us to Midway Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, where this fuzzy Laysan albatross chick is taking in its surroundings. The chick’s home, unfortunately, has a plastic problem. Midway Atoll is part of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, not far from the giant gyre of marine debris known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It’s been estimated that some 100 pounds of plastic wash up on Midway Atoll each week, and most of the albatross population has ingested it (they confuse the brightly colored pieces with marine life). For chicks, eating the plastic often proves fatal. But one resilient Laysan albatross named Wisdom has become a symbol of hope. At 68 years old, Wisdom is the oldest known wild bird in the world–and as of 2018 she was still laying eggs. Sounds like a perfect Earth Day mascot.
Meet our fuzzy Earth Day mascot
Today in History
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High tide at the walled city
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Dyavolski Most
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A garden of prickly delights
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Galeries Lafayette, Paris
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It s Coffee Day
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A peek behind the royal curtain
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Happy Thanksgiving
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A personal collection becomes an institution
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Windmills in Kinderdijk, the Netherlands
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A different kind of dive
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Blackbird in Essex, England
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Wake up, it s Darwin Day
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Halo around the sun
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Mooncake time
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Find a Rainbow Day
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Hemingway’s Keys
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Penguin Awareness Day
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It s Republic Day in India
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Autumn’s swan song
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International Day for Biosphere Reserves
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Mesmerizing murmuration
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Freshwater plants in Aquário Natural, Brazil
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Cape Town at dusk
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The view will stop you in your tracks
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Hezké svátky
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Illuminating Annecy
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Mountain mists over Bavaria
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What are we looking at?
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Rocky mountain pi
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The birthplace of Cinco de Mayo