Helium balloons are killing birds, turtles and marine animals. Connecticut may regulate them

What goes up, must come down. This is true of all things, but when it is a helium-filled balloon, tragedy can result.

When a balloon comes down in water, sea creatures may eat it and die. When it comes down on land, birds may become entangled in its strings, and either become seriously injured or die.

A bill that passed the state House of Representatives and is on the Senate calendar, aims to ban the intentional release of helium balloons.

HB6481 passed the House 137-5. Dozens of people submitted testimony to support the bill. No opposing testimony was given.

One of those submitting testimony was Christine Cummings, president of A Place Called Hope Birds of Prey Rehabilitation Center in Killingworth. She calls balloons “communal littering.

“People gather together to celebrate an event and they release the balloons, which are ultimately going to come down and cause devastation to our wildlife and environment,” Cummings said.

Patrick Comins, executive director of the Connecticut Audubon Society, agrees. “In general, they are a form of litter that travels a long way,” Comins said.

“We end up having to pick up a lot of them while doing beach monitoring — happy birthday balloons, happy graduation balloons. They are a big problem,” Comins said.

10 states

Current state law prohibits the intentional release of more than 10 balloons. Connecticut is one of 10 states that restrict balloon releases. Others are California, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Virginia.

HB6481 would replace the current law and would forbid the release of any balloons at all. Balloons deployed by National Weather Service or any other research entity are exempt.

A proviso in the bill, which proposed a violation would result in an infraction, was removed and replaced with a warning.

Rep. Mary M. Mushinsky introduced the current law in the 1980s.

“It was brought to me by the Cetacean Society,” which protects whales, Mushinsky said. “These animals are ingesting balloons they think are jellyfish. It blocks their intestines. They starve over many weeks. It’s a slow, painful death.

“Sea birds and sea turtles also eat them. The mylar is floating and undulating in the water and looks like a jellyfish. They eat them and then they get in trouble,” she said.

Mushinsky is a co-sponsor of HB6481, with Reps. David Michel, Aundre Bumgardner, Irene M. Haines, Hector Arzeno and Joseph P. Gresko; and Sens. Ceci Maher and Derek Slap.

Pollution

Bill Lucey of New Haven-based Save the Sound said he goes out daily to look for pollution.

“Every single time I have been out over the last five years, I have seen at least one balloon, especially the mylar ones, floating. My record one day was 16 or 20. The most are typically during graduation times,” Lucey said.

He said states to the south, whose warmer climates are more conducive to sea turtle habitation, have studied the issue.

“A lot of little (turtles) come washed up dead. A significant percentage have stomachs full of plastic film,” he said.

Cummings said entanglement with balloon strings is one of the top three dangers to bird safety, after car strikes and feeding on rodents that have eaten pesticides.

“A string gets tangled around a leg or a foot or a wing. They struggle to try to get away and usually make the entanglement tighter and worse. It damages their bodies,” she said.

Teaching moment

Priscilla Feral, president of Darien-based Friends of Animals, said passing the law would be a teaching moment.

“This legislation is a powerful, necessary tool to help educate communities to prevent intentional releases of balloons to commemorate a celebration or other life event,” Feral said.

Cummings has begun that education with presentations at elementary schools, where she brings raptors to show the kids.

Pharaoh is one of Cummings’ birds. A Place Called Hope acquired the falcon after it was entangled in balloon strings. Pharaoh had to be cut free and has been flightless ever since.

“Wings and elbow joints get broken. It’s not something we can fix. No vet can fix it either. The bones fuse. There is no mobility,” Cummings said. “These 100% healthy beings become captive victims because of something someone discarded.”

Educating children

Cummings said when she teaches at schools, she doesn’t want kids to feel bad about balloons they released in the past. She just wants them to not do it anymore.

“We say, now that we know better, we can do better,” she said.

Mushinsky said kids are especially responsive to dangers that affect animals. She said the bill she introduced in the ’80s was supported by kids working with the Cetacean Society.

“Children that study marine mammals, turtles, whales are very sympathetic to the issue. From all parts of the state, kids came in to testify why we should regulate this because it’s causing unnecessary mortality to animals,” she said.

Susan Dunne can be reached at sdunne@courant.com.