| Pages:
1
2 |
Fatboy
Senior Nomad
Posts: 713
Registered: 6-28-2005
Member Is Offline
|
|
The new scourge of remote areas
I have been seeing more and more of these balloons in remote areas. On one of the rock-pile hikes I saw 7 different ones.
A recent article seems to imply they are also involved in sea bird deaths.
Sea Bird Deaths caused by Balloons
Do we give any thought when we buy these? Probably not, they seem innocent enough at the time.
Yet just as we start to realize what plastic is doing to our environment decades later, hopefully we can be a little more aware of these.
Perhaps it will only be an issue for those that travel in more remote areas where they are so out of place.
 
|
|
|
David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64479
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
|
|
I often wonder about those nighttime flaming paper bag launches, too!
|
|
|
Fatboy
Senior Nomad
Posts: 713
Registered: 6-28-2005
Member Is Offline
|
|
Not to excuse it but hopefully they mostly burn and paper does degrade faster than this mylar and is less deadly to wildlife.
|
|
|
David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64479
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
|
|
10-4... what about forest fires??? 
|
|
|
StuckSucks
Super Nomad
Posts: 2306
Registered: 10-17-2013
Member Is Offline
|
|
I was in remote southeastern California a year ago when I saw this low-flying red blob floating across the sky, so I followed it until it was plucked
out of the sky by a thoughtful tree. With some deflation, it fit nicely in my backseat.
|
|
|
Fatboy
Senior Nomad
Posts: 713
Registered: 6-28-2005
Member Is Offline
|
|
Well, again, not to downplay something, I do not believe that is what is causing our fires here in CA.
But....
|
|
|
Fatboy
Senior Nomad
Posts: 713
Registered: 6-28-2005
Member Is Offline
|
|
Quote: Originally posted by StuckSucks  | I was in remote southeastern California a year ago when I saw this low-flying red blob floating across the sky, so I followed it until it was plucked
out of the sky by a thoughtful tree. With some deflation, it fit nicely in my backseat.
|
See that seems like a perfect example, who knows how far that traveled and luckily someone was there to clean it up. Thank You for that!
|
|
|
thebajarunner
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3687
Registered: 9-8-2003
Location: Arizona....."Free at last from crumbling Cali
Member Is Offline
Mood: muy amable
|
|
The mylar balloons that are so popular will stay inflated for days, maybe weeks,
Put one up in the tradewinds and it will carry hundreds of miles before it finally slowly deflates and settles to earth
They are really bad news for power lines, but never heard of them killing sea birds.
|
|
|
Fatboy
Senior Nomad
Posts: 713
Registered: 6-28-2005
Member Is Offline
|
|
The link I posted covers it and the article says ...
“Balloons or balloon fragments were the marine debris most likely to cause mortality, and they killed almost one in five of the seabirds
that ingested them,” said the study’s lead author, Lauren Roman, a doctoral student at the University of Tasmania.
Now while it does not say what kinds of balloons, the link they give for "balloons" says this...
For animals, both mylar and latex balloons pose a deadly threat. Animals can become entangled in strings, or try to eat them, which will block
their digestive systems and cause them to starve to death. Sadly, this has been a tragic fate met by both animals on land, and at sea …especially
for species like sea turtles, who mistake them for jellyfish.
[Edited on 3-8-2019 by Fatboy]
|
|
|
StuckSucks
Super Nomad
Posts: 2306
Registered: 10-17-2013
Member Is Offline
|
|
| Quote: Originally posted by Fatboy | | See that seems like a perfect example, who knows how far that traveled and luckily someone was there to clean it up. Thank You for that!
|
It contained love notes written in Spanish.
|
|
|
thebajarunner
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3687
Registered: 9-8-2003
Location: Arizona....."Free at last from crumbling Cali
Member Is Offline
Mood: muy amable
|
|
Erroll Flynn, the long ago movie actor wrote an autobiography.
Told about his boyhood days and the evil pranks they pulled.
They would tie the greasiest piece of pork gristle they could find to a long monofilament fishing line and toss it in the back yard which was full of
geese.
(You know the old say "like sh*t through a goose....")
So, the next morning all the geese in the yard would be connected by one long line.....
OK, I repent, on to the next subject
|
|
|
BajaTed
Senior Nomad
Posts: 859
Registered: 5-2-2010
Location: Bajamar
Member Is Offline
|
|
I live by Disneyland and the city has a big issue with power outages caused by the balloons.
Es Todo Bueno
|
|
|
wilderone
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3778
Registered: 2-9-2004
Member Is Offline
|
|
Maybe helium filled balloons should be banned like plastic straws, Styrofoam take-out containers, plastic bags. People can do without helium-filled
balloons. A replacement would soon be invented.
|
|
|
Maderita
Senior Nomad
Posts: 634
Registered: 12-14-2008
Location: San Diego
Member Is Offline
|
|
Mylar balloons, launched from Tijuana to Ensenada, often fail to clear the escarpment and crash in the Sierra de Juárez . I've encountered numerous
balloons in some odd places: horseback riding off trail, technical climbing on granite crags. Once caught one on the fly, before it landed. A few have
had notes attached. One had a name and Tijuana address. I returned the note to the "flight operations director" with a map of the location where it
had crash landed...
|
|
|
DanO
Super Nomad
Posts: 1923
Registered: 8-26-2003
Location: Not far from the Pacific
Member Is Offline
|
|
| Quote: Originally posted by thebajarunner | Erroll Flynn, the long ago movie actor wrote an autobiography.
Told about his boyhood days and the evil pranks they pulled.
They would tie the greasiest piece of pork gristle they could find to a long monofilament fishing line and toss it in the back yard which was full of
geese.
(You know the old say "like sh*t through a goose....")
So, the next morning all the geese in the yard would be connected by one long line.....
OK, I repent, on to the next subject |
Uh, glad I was eating dinner when I read that. Thanks very much. 
[Edited on 3-8-2019 by DanO]
\"Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible.\" -- Frank Zappa
|
|
|
55steve
Senior Nomad
Posts: 857
Registered: 4-24-2006
Location: Warner Springs, CA
Member Is Offline
|
|
Our ocean off Socal/Baja is full of mylar balloons. We make a habit of gaffing as many as possible - on any given offshore
trip we average around 10 or so.
Here's a Mothers Day balloon and a bag of trash.
[Edited on 3-8-2019 by 55steve]
 
|
|
|
Bubba
Senior Nomad
Posts: 957
Registered: 2-17-2009
Location: Pismo Beach, Ca.
Member Is Offline
|
|
It's pretty disgusting. They banned plastic bags here a couple of yrs ago and I love it. Working on Styrofoam now.
Making America Great Again
|
|
|
John Harper
Super Nomad
Posts: 2289
Registered: 3-9-2017
Location: SoCal
Member Is Offline
|
|
| Quote: Originally posted by Bubba | | It's pretty disgusting. They banned plastic bags here a couple of yrs ago and I love it. Working on Styrofoam now. |
The transition to reusable bags was painless, have no idea what the big issue was. Except the disposable bag manufacturer's lobby.
John
|
|
|
Bubba
Senior Nomad
Posts: 957
Registered: 2-17-2009
Location: Pismo Beach, Ca.
Member Is Offline
|
|
| Quote: Originally posted by John Harper | | Quote: Originally posted by Bubba | | It's pretty disgusting. They banned plastic bags here a couple of yrs ago and I love it. Working on Styrofoam now. |
The transition to reusable bags was painless, have no idea what the big issue was. Except the disposable bag manufacturer's lobby.
John |
Exactly. Styrofoam is just as bad, if not worse. I see that crap everywhere, including washed up on the beaches and floating on some of the kelp
paddies 60 miles off shore.
Making America Great Again
|
|
|
mtgoat666
Select Nomad
Posts: 17295
Registered: 9-16-2006
Location: San Diego
Member Is Offline
Mood: Hot n spicy
|
|
| Quote: Originally posted by Bubba | | Quote: Originally posted by John Harper | | Quote: Originally posted by Bubba | | It's pretty disgusting. They banned plastic bags here a couple of yrs ago and I love it. Working on Styrofoam now. |
The transition to reusable bags was painless, have no idea what the big issue was. Except the disposable bag manufacturer's lobby.
John |
Exactly. Styrofoam is just as bad, if not worse. I see that crap everywhere, including washed up on the beaches and floating on some of the kelp
paddies 60 miles off shore. |
How to clean up the world:
Ban single-use plastic bags
Ban helium ballons
Ban single-use styrofoam fast food packaging
Mandatory vehicle fuel economy standards
Mandatory diets for fat people
Use tax policy to effect social engineering (e.g tax penalty if you buy/own a significantly polluting vehicle, boat, house, business)
Woke!
“...ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.” “My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America
will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.”
Prefered gender pronoun: the royal we
|
|
|
| Pages:
1
2 |
![[*]](images/xmbforum/default_icon.gif){kind=icon}
