This is something I’ve only seen in photos but finally saw firsthand this past weekend. I don’t often talk about pollution or conservation on my blog beyond the importance of telling the stories with our cameras but I kind of had too on this one. This 12″ Brown Trout was caught by my buddy and we were both shocked to see this plastic water/sports drink bottle ring stuck behind the gill plate of the fish. It had slowly taken chunks out of the fish as you can see in the photos. What this comes down to is being responsible. It doesn’t have to be something big, as this photo shows, these little things are important. No matter what the subject or where the area you have to take care of both because there may come a day when these places and these creatures will be gone. Believe it or not but seeing this sort of thing really isn’t enjoyable. It’s just sad. So if you see trash while out with your cameras, pick it up, you never know how much good it could do.