Ocean Plastic Makes Sea Life Drastic

Written by Sofia Totino

February 22, 2022

Taken from The Guardian

The image above taken from The Guardian is not photoshopped. This is an actual turtle who is about to ingest a quite unappealing piece of plastic. This poor unsuspecting turtle is one of many who live in roughly 14 million tons of plastic that float around in the deep blue (Readfearn, 2020).

Each year, roughly 14 million tons of plastic ends up in the ocean (IUCN, 2021). Consider all of the bottled sodas you drink in a week, or candy wrappers you eat in a month. Now think about all the soda bottles and candy wrappers you dispose of. A large percentage of those candy wrappers and soda cans end up in the ocean. Plastic pollution threatens the well being of marine species. This is through the breakdown of plastic into microplastic. Microplastic is defined as plastic debris that are 5 millimeters or smaller. It is easy for smaller debris of plastic to end up in the bodies of marine life, as they are tiny and can easily enter ocean dweller’s mouths. 

Currently, it is estimated that there are 100 million tons of plastic in oceans around the world. This plastic is having an extremely negative impact on marine life. Approximately one million marine animals die each year from plastic consumption (Sea Turtle Conservancy). This is detrimental to not only marine life, but human life as well. Steadily eating foods such as fish is important to maintaining a healthy diet, as fish is filled with protein. However, eating fish who themselves ingest heavily manufactured materials is not good for us as humans. Plastics are filled with chemicals such as brominated flame retardants, dioxins, and polychlorinated biphenyls, all of which can cause a wide range of health problems. These include metabolic diseases, immune dysfunction, cancer, and cardiovascular disease (NIH, 2021). 

This seems like a lot of trash, and a lot of problems following it. But there's more. National Geographic predicts that plastic trash flowing in the ocean will nearly triple by 2040. This would be a total of 29 million metric tons of plastic in the ocean (Parker, 2020). So, how can we attempt to fix the large amount of plastic in the ocean? Well, there are some actions we can take to reduce the amount of turtles ending up with plastic-filled guts. We can reduce our use of single-use plastics. Using less plastic bags, water bottles, take-out containers, and other products could help to minimize the turtles in danger. Recycling properly can also help. As of right now, only 9 percent of the world's plastic is recycled. Recycling helps by reducing the amount of “new” plastic in circulation, and helps keep plastics out of the ocean (Oceanic Society, 2021). It can also help to establish areas that are Marine Protected, meaning areas that trash is not allowed to be thrown into or near. This could protect vulnerable fish stock and ultimately improve human health and well being (NIH, 2021). If we, as humans, are diligent and take action by recycling more and using less single-use plastic, we can help reduce the amount of plastic that ends up in the mouths of sea creatures.

Sources:

• https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/06/more-than-14m-tonnes-of-plastic-believed-to-be-at-the-bottom-of-the-ocean

• https://www.iucn.org/resources/issues-briefs/marine-plastic-pollution

• https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/plastic-trash-in-seas-will-nearly-triple-by-2040-if-nothing-done

• https://www.oceanicsociety.org/resources/7-ways-to-reduce-ocean-plastic-pollution-today/

• https://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/programs/geh/geh_newsletter/2021/2/articles/new_study_finds_ocean_pollution_a_threat_to_human_health.cfm#:~:text=Industrial%20 waste%2C%20 agricultural%20runoff%2C%20 pesticides,other%20 neurological%20 damage%2C%20and%20death.