The Atlantic Garbage Patch

Recently the impact of human plastic waste in the ocean has been identified and has horrified many viewers of YouTube videos and documentaries on this issue. In the middle of the Atlantic ocean researchers retrieved over 48,000 plastic fragments in just 6 weeks and are now calling this patch of the ocean the Atlantic Garbage Patch. This collection of plastic waste measures twice the area of the United States. Until recently it has gone unnoticed as satellites are not able to detect this mostly transparent accumulation of waste. It is believed that about 10% of all the world's plastic waste finds its way into the ocean. Look at the photographs below to see the enormity of this negligence on the part of many countries to appropriately deal with plastic waste.

 

The impact of all this plastic waste on the ecosystems of the oceans is growing. Many species for example fish, sea turtles and dolphins are harmed by plastic waste. They ingest the plastic mistaking it for food like jellyfish and choke to death. They become tangled in the plastic and drown. In 1970 it was estimated that plastic entanglement was killing up to 40,000 seals a year. Whales and dolphins also get caught in the plastic waste as they dive and may drown due to this entrapment.

Much of this waste has been swept out to see from land but some of it is also dumped by cargo ships as they travel in the ocean and by fishing equipment. Fortunately, since 1988, it has been illegal for ships to dump plastics into the ocean. But this law is difficult to enforce, and cannot account for the thousands of miles of driftnets and other gear set by fishermen, which can ensnare and kill birds diving for the fish below, or come loose, only to be discovered later by an unfortunate humpback whale.

In this YouTube video the impact of plastic waste to the marine ecosystems is made very real.

Chris Parry, a public education program manager who works for the California Coastal Commission in San Francisco said, "At this point, cleaning it up isn't an option. It's just going to get bigger as our reliance on plastics continues... The long-term solution is to stop producing as much plastic products at home and change our consumption habits." In order to do our part, we will need to change our habit of using so much plastic and rather select items made of biodegradable products. As consumers we can take action by making this change. Surely the existence of marine life is worth it!