The most heartbreaking thing you'll see all day: Mother bird photographed feeding chick a cigarette butt on a Florida beach; netizens horrified

In a heartwrenching sight that brings into sharp relief like little else degredation that humans have caused to environment and our co-inhabitants on Earth, a mor bird at a beach in Florida was photographed feeding her baby chick a cigarette butt.

A Largo resident, Karen Mason, captured moment and shared photo to her Facebook p on Monday. im shows a Black Skimmer bird feeding its chick butt of a cigarette.

“If you smoke, please don’t leave your butts behind,” Mason captioned post.

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In a bid to spre awareness among people especially youth who are responsible for littering beaches, Mason took to social media platform by posting ar picture. In second im, same chick is seen carrying cigarette butt in its mouth.

“This skimmer chick was offered a cigarette butt by its  parent. It’s time we cleaned up our beaches and stopped treating m like one giant ashtray,” she wrote

Recounting her experience, she wrote, "I happened to see an ult giving a chick something. I knew it wasn't a fish, but I couldn't tell what it was," she said, ding that it was only when she got home and saw pictures on a computer that she realised it was a cigarette butt.

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According to a 2018 report from Ocean Conservancy, cigarette butts me it to top of 10 trash items most collected from beaches globally. In U.S. specifically, more than 842,000 cigarette butts were collected in 2017.

pictures, along with Ms. Mason's appeal, struck a chord with Internet. Since it was shared online on Tuesday, it has gone viral, garnering attention from worldwide including hundreds of comments and 'shares'."Absolutely disheartening to watch," wrote one person on Facebook while "Just sickens me," said ar.

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