Leading Bolus Dissections
In a recent partnership
with marine biologists from the Hawaii Wildlife Reserve, the Enviros received
samples of Albatross bolus in order to examine it for the types and quantities
of pollutants that they contained. On January 24, 2014, the Enviros team and
student volunteers from mentor Ms. Evans-Bye’s marine science class dissected
Albatross bolus samples at Clark Magnet High School. Albatross are a species of
birds residing near islands and beach shores that often consume marine debris
in search of food. As the birds cannot consume these particles, they vomit in
order to expel them from their stomachs in the form of a bolus, which is a
clump of ingested foreign material. During the dissection, students found a
variety of natural objects and man-made contaminants that the birds cannot
digest. These objects include squid beaks, plastics, rocks, and fishing line.
The most prevalent undigested particle that was found in the bolus samples
consisted of plastic particles. Once the dissections were completed, the
samples were repacked to be sent to Roosevelt Middle School in order to allow
middle school students to dissect the samples.