Autism society cancels balloon release amid environment fears

A group campaigning to have mass balloon releases banned has welcomed the decision by the Cork Autism Society to cancel a balloon release planned for this Sunday.

The society’s annual Blue Balloon and Fun Walk has traditionally ended with a mass release of balloons in Blackrock, Co Cork.

However, this year Cork Autism Society has written to the Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE) to say the balloons, which are tied to participants' wrists during the walk, "will not be released . . . but will instead be taken home by the participants".

‘Lethal hazard’

On Monday, FIE had called on the society to cancel the release, pointing out that when the balloons come down in the ocean the fragments can become “marine debris”, which can be a lethal hazard for sea turtles, dolphins, whales, and seabirds, who can mistake them for jellyfish or other natural prey.

A spokesman for the group said: “All of these species have been reported with balloons in their stomachs.

“All seven species of marine turtles are near extinction and many turtles of two species in particular, the loggerhead and leatherback turtle, have been found with balloons in their intestines.

“Added to other plastic fragments, animals can feel full and actually starve to death from not eating.”

The spokesman said the practice of releasing balloons was “an act of littering”.

"If the public knew how hazardous balloons are to the environment they would never allow it," FIE director Tony Lowes said.