Have you seen our Washed Ashore exhibit yet? Washed Ashore: Art to Save the Sea, presented by Dar Stumpf and Clyde Reed, is an exhibit brought to life through an ongoing project to clean up oceanic plastic pollution that washes up on Oregon’s Pacific Coastline. Using the debris, the Washed Ashore team creates breathtaking sculptures of wildlife impacted by plastic pollution.
Even though the project originated more than 2,000 miles from the Garden, its messaging is still felt locally! Around 86% of the pollution washing up on the shores of the Great Lakes is plastic1, causing many of the same problems among local wildlife that are seen in marine animals.
Additionally, the shorelines of our Great Lakes are seeing an abundance of microplastics: at certain points in Lake Michigan’s coastline, there were between 151 and 200 pieces of microplastics collected per kg of sand – that’s anywhere from 2 to 4 times more than what was collected on Oregon’s coastline2. And in some areas of Lake Superior, this number is even higher.
Three of the animal advocates from the Washed Ashore exhibit – Stanley the Sturgeon, Giacometti the River Otter, and Rosa the Bald Eagle – can be found in Wisconsin (and its surrounding lakes). How does plastic pollution affect each of these local animals?
Stanley the Sturgeon
As you enter the Garden, Stanley is likely one of the first animal advocates you’ll come across! Located right next to the fountain, he’s pretty hard to miss. Stanley was commissioned by Green Bay Botanical Garden in 2021 to help raise awareness about plastic pollution in the Great Lakes, and has since traveled the country (he even appeared on the Kelly Clarkson Show early on!) to spread the message.
Sturgeon are benthic feeders, meaning they use their mouths as a vacuum to suck up snails, larvae, and other tiny critters from the lake bottom3. Sturgeon are able to identify and spit out any rocks or pebbles that get mixed in, but unfortunately many microplastics are small enough to go undetected.
Over the past 10 years, almost 90% of water samples from the Great Lakes have recorded microplastic levels dangerous to wildlife. At these levels, sturgeon and other fish are at risk of ingesting so many microplastics that they constantly feel “full” and won’t get the nutrients they need from their regular diets, leading to starvation4.
Giacometti the River Otter
If you travel far enough into the Garden, you’ll come across Giacometti underneath the Jenquine Pavilion. River otters can be found living near lakes and rivers throughout Wisconsin – and this population now includes Louie, a once-captive river otter who recently escaped from the NEW Zoo!
Though otters typically don’t directly consume microplastics, they still experience second-hand health effects from consuming animals that do. River otters eat a variety of smaller fish and aquatic wildlife. When these smaller critters accumulate microplastics in their digestive systems, the microplastics transfer over to otters.
Why is this so harmful? Plastic pollution essentially acts like a “chemical sponge,” and soaks up harmful toxins (like pesticides) from the surrounding water. When this plastic breaks down into microplastics and is ingested by fish (and, eventually, larger species like otters), the toxic chemicals leech out into their digestive tracts which can cause health problems and reproductive deformities5.
Additionally, extremely small and jagged pieces of plastic can escape the digestive tract and cause inflammation in internal organs5.
Rosa the Bald Eagle
Rosa is a majestic sight to see, standing at the bottom of the Grand Garden with her wings spread wide. Although actual bald eagles are brown and white, Rosa’s wings are a carefully curated collection of black, gray, and small bits of brown plastic to create a dark brown appearance overall. Brown is not a common color found in plastic so the Washed Ashore artists had to get creative!
Like otters, bald eagles’ diets primarily consist of fish – you can even see a fish under Rosa’s talons! Also, like otters, this unfortunately means that eagles are negatively impacted by plastic pollution in similar ways. In addition to pre-used, broken-down microplastics harming wildlife, pre-production microplastics have similar effects.
Plastic pellets (also called “nurdles”) are melted down and shaped into the millions of plastic products we consume each day6. These pellets are full of chemicals that help determine their color, flexibility, and durability after production6 – but many of these pellets accidentally end up in the Great Lakes during transportation, releasing all of those chemicals into our waters and harming the fish population. If eagles eat too many fish that are full of harmful chemicals, they could also become sick.
Impact on Humans
Even though plastic pollution impacts our wildlife greatly, it doesn’t hurt humans – right?
Wrong. The Great Lakes provide drinking water to 40 million people, and microplastics have been found in fish, tap water, bottled water, and even beer coming from these waters7. This means that not only are fish, otters, and eagles consuming microplastics and their toxins, but we’re consuming them as well.
It’s extremely hard – even impossible, in some cases – to remove microplastics from the water due to their small size. This means that the only way to prevent microplastics in our lakes and rivers is to limit our use of macro-plastics (that eventually break down into microplastics) like water bottles, plastic bags, and synthetic fabrics on land. By lessening your plastic footprint, you’ll help our fish, otters, eagles, and even yourself!
Sources
- “New Report: Vast Majority of Great Lakes Litter Is Plastic – Alliance for the Great Lakes.” Alliance for the Great Lakes, April 11, 2024. https://greatlakes.org/2024/04/new-report-vast-majority-of-great-lakes-litter-is-plastic/.
- NOAA Marine Debris Program. “Microplastics on Great Lakes Beaches (U.S. National Park Service).” National Parks Service, August 8, 2024. https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/microplastics-on-great-lakes-beaches.htm.
- Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office. “Scutes Student Resources.” NOAA, April 26, 2022. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/new-england-mid-atlantic/endangered-species-conservation/scutes-student-resources
- Oosthoek, Sharon. “Great Lakes Microplastics Concentrations Exceed Safe Levels for Wildlife.” Great Lakes Now, August 21, 2023. https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/08/great-lakes-microplastics-concentrations-exceed-safe-levels-for-wildlife/.
- Oosthoek, Sharon. “Microplastic Pollution – How Worried Should We Be?” Great Lakes Now, January 9, 2024. https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2023/02/science-says-what-how-worried-should-we-be-about-microplastic-pollution/.
- Meyer, Alex. “Are Plastic ‘leachates’ Affecting Lake Erie Ecosystems?” Ohio Sea Grant College Program, September 29, 2024. https://ohioseagrant.osu.edu/news/2024/wkqys/are-plastic-leachates-affecting-lake-erie-ecosystems.
- “Great Lakes Plastic Pollution.” Alliance for the Great Lakes. Accessed June 26, 2025. https://greatlakes.org/great-lakes-plastic-pollution-fighting-for-plastic-free-water/.
