Plastic Poison in the Sea

Transcription

1 Plastic Poison in the Sea Our Oceans, Our Plastic Carolyn Frank

2 Slowly, the tip just the tip of a green plastic toothbrush emerges from the bird s throat. The sight is so surreal so out of place, so wrong, that my racing mind is interrogating my eyes over and over: Are you sure that s a toothbrush? - Carl Safina (Decker, page 31) Every year, millions of animals die or are severely sickened by the entanglement or ingestion of plastic. Plastic made by humans, used by humans and discarded by humans clutters our beaches, landfills and oceans. Plastic, made for human luxury and benefits, is slowly killing entire species of animals. Plastic harms wildlife every day because of human carelessness. The wildlife species hardest hit are those dependent on the sea. Small plastic objects that are discarded by consumers on the beach or near the sea infiltrate marine ecosystems. Plastic refuse can be mistaken for food and eaten, starving or choking fish and birds. Nets and monofilaments entrap, entangle and eventually kill birds, whales, seals and sea turtles. Plastic can be fatally poisonous to the wildlife that encounters it in the ocean. 1

3 Plastic is a petroleum product with extremely strong chemical bonds (Decker, page 44). This means that plastics will last for hundreds of years. Although this aspect of plastic may be beneficial to its human consumers, it is potentially lethal to the wildlife where plastic refuse ends up: the ocean. There are seven categories of plastic. The two most poisonous plastics are polyvinyl chloride (PVC, vinyl, or #3 plastic), which can release lead, phthalates and other toxins into the air and water, and polystyrene (PS, Styrofoam, or #6 plastic), which can leach several toxins when heated (Decker, page 42). Polyethylene terephthalate (polyester, PET, PETE or #1), high-density polyethylene (HDPE or #2), and low-density polyethylene (LDPE or #4) are the three most common plastics used (Decker, page 42-43). Products such as bottles, packaging and toys made from these plastics end up in the ocean, making these plastics the most harmful to wildlife. The seventh plastic category includes any plastic material other than the previous six. This can include biodegradable polymers, some recyclable plastics, and polycarbonates, a plastic that can leach Bisphenol A (BPA) (Decker, page 42-43). Even though plastic is harmful in itself, it is human carelessness in disposing trash that leads to more plastic entering the sea, further endangering animal lives. Plastic beverage bottles and food packaging left on the beach by consumers and beachgoers end up in the ocean. Plastic shopping bags that are dropped or discarded near cities and towns are blown by the wind into the ocean or its tributaries. During storms at sea, freight containers can be dislodged from the decks of cargo freighters and spilled in the sea, releasing shipments of plastic nurdles (plastic pellets used to make products), bath toys, sneakers, flip-flops, and even hockey gear. In 1992, a freighter spilled 28,800 Floatee bath toys near the Aleutian Islands (Hohn, page 9). During hurricanes and 2

4 monsoons, tons of garbage and personal belongings are washed from coastal towns out to sea, where they can float for years, killing animals. Because humans have allowed large amounts of plastic trash to enter the ocean, the lives of animals in the ocean are endangered. One of the most common causes of marine animal deaths is entanglement. Whales become entangled in ghost nets lost at sea and fishing buoy ropes. The ropes cut into their flesh during their frantic attempts to escape. It can either stay wrapped around the whale for years or sever the limb it entangling. This is also true for dolphins and sharks. The Hawaiian monk seal is a species of seal that is especially prone to becoming entangled in net fragments and discarded ropes. This is partially why it is now an endangered species. Every year, nearly 40,000 seals are killed by plastic entanglement (Amaral). Sea turtles that become entangled in monofilaments and plastic bands grow extremely disfigured shells that inhibit organ growth, eventually killing them. Sea birds such as ducks, cormorants and sandpipers can also become entangled in trash left on the beach and soon die. Another cause of death in marine animals is ingestion of plastic pieces mistaken for food. Fish, sea birds and sea turtles are the most common victims of plastic poisoning by ingestion. After eating small plastic objects or fragments, the animal can absorb lethal toxins from the plastic that will cause it to sicken and die. Sharp plastic fragments can also pierce or irritate the stomach and intestine linings of these animals, causing ulcers. In most animals affected by plastic ingestion, large amounts of plastic in the stomach cause a false sensation of satiation, leading to starvation and dehydration (Decker, page 29). Laysan albatrosses, an endangered species, are an extreme example of death by 3

5 plastic. While at sea, adult albatrosses mistake plastic objects for food and later feed them to their chicks. It is estimated that 97.5 percent of all albatross chicks on Earth contain plastic pieces in their digestive tract (Ocean Plastics Pollution). Since these plastic pieces cannot be digested, they will stay in the chick s stomach. Most of these chicks will die before becoming adults. The amount of plastic polluting our ocean is extraordinary. Every year it just keeps growing and growing. No matter how much you may clean up, twice that much will find its way to the sea. There is so much plastic in the ocean that it has concentrated in gyres of plastic soup around the world. The biggest is the North Pacific Gyre, or the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It stretches nearly all the way across the Pacific Ocean between Asia and North America and contains over 100 million tons of garbage. This plastic is slowly poisoning our ocean and ecosystems because of human carelessness and ignorance in discarding their trash. Most of the plastic littering our Earth will eventually find its way to the ocean, either carried by water or blown by wind. Once there, it can and will devastate marine ecosystems, which will eventually affect humans by infecting the natural resources we use every day. Instead of using and discarding this poisonous and lethal substance, humans can save themselves and the environment by acting against ocean pollution. 4

6 Reference List Amaral, Kimberly. Plastics in Our Ocean. Plastics in Our Ocean. Sea Education Association. Web. 4 May Decker, Julie. Gyre: The Plastic Ocean. London: Booth-Clibborn Editions, Ebbesmeyer, Curtis and Eric Scigliano. Floatsametrics and the Floating World: How One Man s Obsession with Runaway Sneakers and Rubber Ducks Revolutionized Ocean Science. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, Hohn, Donovan. Moby-Duck: The True Story of 28,800 Bath Toys Lost at Sea and of the Beachcombers, Environmentalists, and Fools, Including the Author, Who Went in Search of Them. New York: Penguin Group, Moore, Capt. Charles. Plastic Ocean: How a Sea Captain s Chance Discovery Launched a Determined Quest to Save the Oceans. New York: Penguin Group, National Research Council. Clean Ships, Clean Ports, Clean Oceans: Controlling Garbage and Plastic Wastes at Sea. Washington D.C.: National Academy Press, Ocean Plastics Pollution: A Global Tragedy For Our Oceans And Sea Life. Ocean Plastics Campaign. Center for Biological Diversity. Web. 4 May

7 Reflection My essay addresses the problem of plastic in the ocean and how it proves fatal to animals every day. Plastic Poison in the Sea is about the plastics in our oceans that strangle, choke, starve, entangle, poison and kill animals by horrific means. I also explain how, because of human carelessness, this plastic gets to the ocean. Starting with the seven categories of plastic and the toxins they contain, I tell how littering can lead to large amounts of plastic entering the ocean. I also explain how this plastic, carelessly discarded, can entangle animals, sever limbs, starve and choke birds, and poison not only the animals that ingest it, but also the very sea itself. While researching plastic pollution, I found the most appalling aspect to be the harm our trash causes the animals we share our Earth with. This became the basis for my essay. I viewed this crisis as the worst effect plastic has on the enviroment and wrote my essay describing this. I believe the death of animals because of human littering should be a high priority in preventing ocean pollution. Near the end of my essay, I wrote about how the garbage we throw in the ocean will eventually affect us. If humans don t act against pollution, the plastics in our oceans will poison the natural resources we depend on, such as plants, animals, and water, and can lead to large-scale death.