Marine debris is an international issue; the plastic within the oceans is a growing problem, it is affecting the marine life. The marine property is unclaimed, and many people find it inconsequential to dump their plastic wastes overboard. Not all garbage in the oceans is visible along the coast; there is also a “garbage-patch” in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. There is little hope that the ocean will be in the pristine condition it once was before the trash. The waste has many sources, and is constantly transferred throughout the oceans by wind and currents.
Turtle with plastic in mouth, thinking it was food. (guecoaction.blogspot.com)
Cruise ships, commercial fishing, beach going citizens, street gutters, and ocean drilling rigs all contribute to the plastic in the seas. More than 135 thousand tons of plastic trash is dumped annually by fishing and naval ships. Another 149 thousand tons are from fishing gear such as nets, buoys, and traps while 26 thousand tons are contributed by packaging alone. Cruise ships, including cargo and crew wastes, also leave around 7 million tons in the ocean annually. Styrofoam cups, plastic bags and other small plastic items are dropped on the street, washed down the rain gutters, into rivers and streams and eventually into the oceans. Other sources such as park beaches and oil and gas ocean rigs also have growing numbers of plastic contributions. All this trash must travel somewhere; it is pushed by the currents and winds throughout the oceans. For the majority of this garbage, it is swirled into a large area by the pacific gyre currents where it stays due to the circling water.
In the middle of the Pacific Ocean are two patches the size of the African continent. These patches are not land, but rather garbage, 80% of which is plastic. Charles Moore discovered the great patch of trash in 1988 while sailing back to the mainland from Hawaii. Moore is the founder of Algalita Marine Research Foundation, and has dedicated his life to researching the ocean. He and his crew members are focused on a northern section (twice the size of Texas) of the Western Garbage Patch. Some of the products Moore found on the outskirts of the patch were floating Styrofoam cups, tangled rope, thousands of plastic bags along with snack bags such as chip bags, zip-lock baggies, and candy wrappers. Most of this trash is suspended beneath the surface and is being broken down by the seawater and sunlight. The pieces of plastic are broken down into smaller and smaller pieces; there is already dust and sand plastic along the Pacific beaches and covering the Pacific Ocean floor. The gargantuan mass of plastic is not only taking over our seas, but is also affecting the food web of marine life.
Plastic is being broken down into smaller pieces and is invading the food web. Birds, turtles, sea lions, and other marine animals mistake the plastic for food or are tangled up in the plastic and suffer. Plastic bags are mistaken for jelly fish and are consumed by turtles; pieces of hard floating plastic are eaten by birds; and animals such as sea lions, birds, and turtles get entangled in plastic six-pack rings. There is a layer within the ocean just beneath the surface that is known as “plastic soup”, it is sludge; plastic that has been broken down into tiny pieces and that resemble zooplankton and small marine life. In a sample container the plastic soup outnumbers the amount of plankton by six to one. Charles Moore has no hope of the oceans being as clean as they once were before all of the ocean trash, but some organizations and researchers are indeed trying to at least stop the problem at the sources.
plastic (pajaritoeec.org)
Extensive research by the United States has been done, but no apparent solution to the marine debris has been made. There is neither the understanding needed nor information on how to completely rid the oceans of the trash. These decisions should also be considered with the United Nations and not only within one country because the ocean is unclaimed. On a smaller scale, there are people like Charles Moore that are doing their part by trying to clean the oceans, and others such as companies who are making plastic biodegradable.
The oceans of the world are being polluted by all our plastic waste, and the marine life is also affected. Trash comes from all over the world, and drifts everywhere. Most of the trash in the Pacific Ocean is concentrated in two areas called the garbage patch of the pacific. There are few people attempting to clean up what the rest of us humans caused by picking up what trash they can. There are others that are thinking about future of our waste, and how to decrease the amount of refuse that humans produce. Whatever happens in the future, the oceans will never be in the same condition as they were before all the trash we dumped overboard.
