Their mother's squawks competed with the din of morning-rush bridge traffic as Chris Nadareski, a wildlife biologist with the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, gently lifted the fluffy chicks out of their nesting box and used pliers to fasten metal bands around their legs.

WSJ: 4 falcon chicks living on NY-NJ bridge are banded

One reason it's taken so long is that people can't see that the oceans are filling up, said Sandra Whitehouse, a marine biologist and senior adviser at the Ocean Conservancy, an environmental group.

CNN: Governments trying to reel in 'ocean sprawl'