“My mind keeps thinking about why this bird hangs like that,” said avid kayaker Ian Gelynse, who spotted it in the distance while rowing on the Thames in London, Ontario with his son Will. Bird. On Father’s Day.

‘Absolutely angry about this’

It wasn’t until Grims approached that his curiosity turned into despair.

“I knew right away that this was an osprey. It was one of my favorite birds,” he said. “Seeing this, I was destroyed. I could see all the fishing lines entangled around it, so it was obvious what was going on.

“We were all frightened when we saw it. My son immediately said,’We can’t just leave it like this.'”

Gelynse chopped down the bird’s carcass and took pictures before putting it into the forest, so that “nature can go with the flow”, as he said, but the dazzling sight has been haunting him-an optimistic reminder that our garbage is right How deadly wild animals are.

The area where the bird died is under the busy Adelaide Street Bridge and is a popular spot for anglers in the city. The evidence is the number of fishing lines tangled on the wires parallel to the bridge. The obstacle is invisible, like a spooky spider web, capable of trapping anything unfortunate to fly into it.

Gelynse said: “Before the bird panics, it will soon be entangled in the fishing line.”

He posted these pictures on social media, sparking a storm of debate. He said that the debate had become so hot because of the fierce battle between bird lovers and people who like birds. It was eventually removed. fish.

“They don’t like to deal with too many disputes,” he said. “They pulled it down, but I already have 22 people sharing it.”

Pigeons and ducks are entangled in fishing gear

Gelynse said that on another social media site for kayakers, he had hundreds of reactions to images of dead birds.

“This must have aroused people’s indignation. I got a lot of praise for cutting down that bird and trying to give it some dignity.

“Through the comments, I learned a lot about the real cause of the fishing problem,” he said.

“Considering a fish they didn’t catch, the line was broken, and the hook was in the mouth of the fish. This is a potential food for these birds.”

Environmentalists who clean up the trash along the Thames told CBC News that discarded fishing lines, bait and styrofoam bait containers are very common in the cleaning process, and wild animals often pay for our carelessness.

“We have seen examples of wildlife being involved,” said Tom Carr, one of the organizers of Antler River Rally, a volunteer organization that organizes the cleanup of the Thames every month.

He said recent examples include a pigeon caught in a fishing line on the Wellington Street Bridge and a duck caught in its mouth.

After years of clearing riverside rubbish, he discovered that there are two kinds of anglers.

“An angler may be more casual. On Saturday morning, go down, drink a few beers, cast a few lines, and then the serious angler,” Carl said.

“I find that serious anglers are real environmentalists and administrators. People who buy these things and leave them all in the river-this is an unfortunate thing we often see.”

The fishing organization says “garbage has no place in nature”

This is also the kind of littering practice discouraged by the Association of Anglers and Hunters of Ontario (OFAH). With more than 100,000 members, the organization is the largest charitable non-profit fish and wildlife protection organization in the province.

OFAH fisheries biologist Adam Weir wrote in an email to CBC News: “The bad behavior of a few people can not only classify responsible anglers into the same category, but it may also threaten fish and wildlife, their lives. Habitats and the ecosystems that support them.” Friday.

“Discarded bait and fishing line should always be disposed of safely and properly-garbage has no place in nature.”

Weir said that to protect the environment, anglers should remove the hooks from the bait, put them in screw cap bottles or cans, and then discard them in the trash can. He said that many areas now have fishing line recycling stations near ship sewers and coastlines.

If not, he said, put the string in a sealed bag or box and throw it in the trash can.