Plastic Pollution Affects Sea Life Throughout the Ocean

 Plastic Pollution Affects Sea Life Throughout the Ocean

Photos document extent of the impact, which extends to the seafood people eat.

Our ocean and the variety of species that call it home, succumb to the gift of plastic. Examples abound, from the gray whale that died after beach near Seattle in 2010 with more than 20 plastic bags, and golf ball and other debris in the stomach to the harbor seal puppy that was found dead on the Scottish island of Skye, its gut destroyed by a small piece plastic wrapping.

 

According to the UN, at least 800 species worldwide are affected by marine litter, and as much as 80 percent of the litter is plastic. It is estimated that up to 13 million tonnes of plastic end up in the sea each year - equivalent to a garbage or garbage truck load worth every minute. Fish, seabirds, sea turtles and marine mammals can become entangled in or enter plastic waste and cause suffocation, starvation and pressure. Humans are not immune to this threat: While plastics are estimated to take up to hundreds of years to fully degrade, some of them decompose much faster into small particles, which in turn end up in the seafood we eat.

 

The following photos help illustrate the extent of the marine plastic problem.

A sea turtle found in the Pacific Ocean had this waste in its stomach, according to The Ocean Cleanup, a foundation.

Research shows that half of sea turtles worldwide have ingested plastic. Some starve after doing so and mistakenly think they have eaten enough because their stomachs are full. On many beaches, plastic pollution is so prevalent that it affects the turtle's reproduction rate by changing the temperature of the sand where it is incubated.

 

A recent study showed that sea turtles, which consume only 14 pieces of plastic, have an increased risk of death. Young people are especially at risk because they are not as selective as their older ones in terms of what they eat and tend to slip with currents, just as plastic does.

A dead albatross chick found on Midway Atoll in the Pacific Ocean with plastic debris in its stomach.

US Fish and Wildlife Service

Plastic waste kills up to a million seabirds a year. As with sea turtles, when seabirds enter plastic, it takes up space in their stomachs and sometimes causes hunger. Many seabirds are found dead with their stomachs full of this waste. Researchers estimate, with 60 percent of all seabird species having eaten pieces of plastic, a number they predict will rise to 99 percent by 2050.

A dolphin with a plastic bag trailing from its fin swims in the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago in Brazil.

While dolphins are very intelligent and therefore unlikely to eat plastic, they are susceptible to contamination through prey that has ingested synthetic compounds.

Plastic in our garden affects creatures large and small. From seabirds, whales and dolphins to small seahorses that live in coral reefs ……

A seahorse wraps its tail around a plastic cotton swab near Sumbawa Island, Indonesia.

    A plastic band restricts the growth of a blue-striped groundfish in the Caribbean Sea.

Plastic waste can encourage the growth of pathogens in the sea. According to a recent study, researchers concluded that corals that come in contact with plastic have an 89 percent chance of getting disease compared to a 4 percent probability for corals that do not.

Unless action is soon taken to address this urgent problem, scientists predict that the weight of marine plastics will exceed the total weight of all fish in the oceans by 2050.

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