The St. Maarten Zoo received a call Thursday morning from a tourist who found a booby bird tangled in some fishing line in the Pelican area.A representative from the Zoo was able to free the bird. The bird flew away before the extent of any injuries could be determined.
We are aware that local St. Maarten dive companies, as well as Nature Foundation divers, recently cleaned coral reefs of debris and garbage. Apparently items such as fishing line, old anchors and plastic were collected..
Such debris obviously damages coral reefs and ,as evidenced from the incident above, can cause injuries to birds who get caught up in it.
The Zoo is concerned about all wildlife on St. Maarten and urges island residents and visitors to please take care when discarding anything like fishing lines or plastic.
