Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors
post

Choked, strangled, dying: The plastic crisis crippling our oceans

Thu 19 Nov 2020    
EcoBalance
| 2 min read

A dead manatee in Florida was found to have swallowed so many plastic bags they formed a cantaloupe-sized ball in its stomach, while a baby turtle had its intestines perforated by tiny plastic fragments.

They are some of 1,800 marine mammals and turtles found to have ingested or been entangled by plastic along American coastlines since 2009, according to a report from conservation NGO Oceana published Thursday.

The group’s report attempts to describe the cumulative impact of plastic pollution on marine fauna in the United States in the last decade, despite growing recycling practices.

Researchers found the most-ingested objects found were fishing line, plastic sheeting, bags, balloons and food wrappers, while packing straps, bags and balloons with ribbon were most responsible for entanglement incidents.

More than 900 species, including birds and fish, are affected, many of which are found on endangered or threatened lists, according to Oceana.

US laws require such incidents to be recorded when possible, but Oceana found the data was apparently not compiled until the NGO itself started asking public agencies to do the work.

“Many tragedies in the ocean go unobserved,” Oceana lamented in a statement.

“The plastics crisis is deep, wide and pervasive, affecting ecosystems and animals in ways we are only beginning to understand.”

Among the turtles found to have ingested plastic, 20 percent were babies, those that begin to nibble on litter at beach sides moments after they hatch.

Internal blockages caused by the plastic can prevent animals from being able to eat, which is often what ultimately ends up killing them.

Sometimes a ring of plastic gets caught around their necks and as they grow bigger they slowly suffocate.

It is difficult to establish which sources of plastic contribute the most: from single-use items blown from beaches into the water to poorly sealed landfills and exported waste that falls from ships — there are lots of ways for this pollution to end up in the ocean.

[Sourced from Agencies]