What Are Plastic Debris Cause Harm And Death?

When ever you go to the beach, do you ever think about what can happen to an animal and the water when you leave a wrapper in the sand or a plastic bottle in the water? If you think about it, even a small piece of plastic can harm a fish. The fish could mistake it for food. This could potentially kill the fish. There are other things that people d that pollutes the ocean. An oil spill from a boat can get fish sick (Doc.2). Also, solid waste, plastics, glass, and foam (OI). Marine life can get trapped in any of these items (OI). There are many things we can do to prevent this, like, reducing plastic waste in stream, improve solid waste management, and increase, capture, and reuse (Doc.1). These are just a few of the many things we could do to

The problem with plastic ending up in the ocean is that marine life is being harmed by the presence of it. A study done on the harbor seals in the Netherlands found that more than 12% had plastic in the digestive system (California Coastal Commission). The list of affected species indicates that marine debris is affecting a significant number of species. It affects at least 267 species worldwide, including 86% of all sea turtle species, 44% of all seabird species, and 43% of all marine mammal species (Save our shores). The problem is underestimated because the marine life that ingests plastic or dies from entanglement often goes undiscovered due to the vastness of the ocean, as they either sink or are eaten by predators before they are discovered (Plastic Debris). The potential harm from ingestion of plastics is not restricted to seabirds. Plastic bags drifting on ocean currents resemble the prey of turtles. There is evidence that their survival is being hindered by plastic debris with young sea turtles being vulnerable (Ocean pollution). Over the past 20 years polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have polluted marine food webs at an increasing rate, and are prevalent in seabirds. Though their adverse effects may not always be apparent, PCBs lead to reproductive disorders, increase the risk of disease and alter hormone levels. These chemicals have a detrimental effect on marine organisms even at very low levels and plastic pellets could be a route for PCBs into marine food

We can find plastic bags, bottles, balloons, packaging materials, and even food wrappers that contribute to the debris. While large plastics are a major pollutant, over time these plastics break down into smaller and more toxic pieces. These small plastics more easily ingested and they also act as hosts for invasive species and carry them to other regions of the ocean more and more rapidly and increases the damages caused by plastics.¹ A new study found that more than 90 percent of 67 fulmars (a type of bird) had ingested plastics such as twine, Styrofoam, and candy wrappers. An average of 36.8 pieces of plastic was found per bird. On average, the fraction of a gram in each bird would equal to a human packing 10 quarters in his stomach, the scientists figure. According to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, up to 1 million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals and sea turtles die each year from eating

Recognizing them is difficult due to their small size and tone. Often these fragments are mistakes as rocks or large sediment. Many of the native aves in the area use minuscule stones as a deterioration method in their digestive process. Plastics, however, cannot be broken down by the bird's stomach acids alone, and therefore, the shards are unable to leave the bird's gullet. Lodged synthetics cause the bird to believe that it has had a proper meal, but because plastic carries no nutritional value, the fowls die of starvation. This effect is growing worldwide with one of it’s most infamous locations in the Great Pacific garbage patch, where it not only affects birds, but also turtles, fish, and seals. The plastic is able to move through trophic levels and cause bioaccumulation(Sylvia, 1996). Nonetheless, bioaccumulation of plastics in Utah wilderness is still low, but if this pattern continues to grow we will see a steady decline in the populational growth of the inhabitants in our wilderness( Debris,

In the article, "Plastic in Our Oceans", Kimberly Amaral discusses the everyday uses of plastic and how it can be beneficial to humans, but harmful to marine life. As fishermen casually dump waste overboard, animals mistake it for food sources, such as a turtle mistaking a plastic grocery bag for a jellyfish. From the trash brought out to sea, gyres, large circulations of water, carry the garbage through currents, spreading it to all over the ocean, specifically to the central gyre. Amaral notes common ways for marine life to die from plastic, which include entanglement by plastic rings, consumption of plastic bags and pellets which stuff the intestines and lead to health problems, and suffocation. As researchers today work hard to discover

Over the few years, humans have discarded millions of tons of garbage into the oceans. Ever wonder where the cup you threw out this morning will end up? Or the plastic spoon you used for lunch? How about the cap of a water bottle? The calamitous plastic ends up in the water, taking thousands of years to decompose. The consumption of plastic by the marine life is perilous and the leading cause of death for life on shore.

Every year, millions of tons of plastic are tossed into the ocean, harming all types of marine animals as well as the environment. Hundreds of marine mammals like whales and dolphins are found washed ashore filled with bottle caps, plastic bags and basically anything they can swallow. Not only does plastic pollution harm marine life, but it affects the entire ecosystem. If a predator is dependent on a certain species for prey and the predator has a role in the environment, it is important for the prey to not be disturbed by pollution. If that species of prey were to go extinct, then the predator species could be seriously impacted as a result. These problems warrant the need for more research into the magnitude and causes of plastic

It is not just marine animals, from planktons to whales, which ingest microplastics. It can end up in humans when they eat seafood.

In the documentary “Inside the Garbage of the World”, the main social problem being explained is that there has been a great influx of plastic and other type of garbage in oceans and their beaches. This buildup of pollution has largely affected the wildlife population ranging from animals on the beaches to the creatures of the ocean. In oceans, what is called ‘garbage patches’, a large buildup of garbage that flow to one area in the oceans, are being created. Approximately 50 percent of all plastic sinks to the bottom of the ocean floor but about 2 times that much is actually already on the ocean floor. In fact, according to the documentary, there is a garbage patch that is to the left of California that is the size of half of the United States. Each year, about 4.7 million tons of plastic goes in the ocean a year and it is estimated that by 2050, there will be another 33 billion tons of plastic added to the present amount. Eighty percent of the current pollution comes from the land. According to marine researchers, twice as much plastic debris is one the ocean floor than it was 10 years ago. In the futures, plastic will break down into smaller pieces of plastic, creating a bigger problem from the habitat. This plastic pollution is one of the leading cause for beach and ocean inhabiting creatures be extinct because animals are mistaking these plastic pieces for food. When scientist began to dissect beach animals such as birds, they discovered that at least fifteen pounds of

Some trash on their way to collect into the gyres find their way onto islands in the middle of the ocean. The Midway Atoll is a major littering ground for this forgotten trash from, “a motorcycle helmet, a mannequin’s head, and an umbrella handle,” to “coffee lids, water bottles and bags,” that pollute this once beautiful island (CNN 3, 5). Another huge concern is about the animal life that plastic affects. The plastic breaks down into tiny shards that the fish and other animals eat, they get eaten by the predators, and the plastic gets transferred to the predator. One predator are the birds that live on the midway atoll. They found “thousands of birds’ bodies rotting … endless tiny shards of plastic…as if plastic was the bird’s diet,” (CNN 11, 13). People daily

Zooplankton are a tiny marine creature that can ingest pieces of plastic that are smaller the one millimeter in size. Normally in a marine environment the faecal pellets transport nutrients and carbon in the deeper parts of the ocean where animals eat it thinking they’re getting food that will help them but in reality they are just taking in pieces of plastic. A new study showed that the faecal pellets that contain microplastic sink slower than the faecal pellets without the microplastic in it. With the pellets that sink slower it gives marine life a greater opportunity to eat it. (Plankton Feces Could Move Plastic Pollution to the Ocean Depths)

Australian marine wildlife is becoming obsolete at what seems to be a very fast rate. It is quite common to watch the news on national television and hear about our coastlines becoming drowned in plastic and toxic waste. Misuse of goods such as plastics in our communities, are being found in our waters which in turn, is causing life threatening disasters for marine wildlife. Plastic debris can cause injury or death through drowning, entanglement, internal injuries and starvation from ingestion (“Marine Debris - What is Australia doing - Home Page”, 2016). Through the misuse of plastics Australia now has a number of endangered and vulnerable species in our marine wildlife. Thus, this inquiry will explore the impact and severity that plastic

Plastic pollution has been identified as a major, global-scale threat to sea turtles for decades, and the oceans are now experiencing a relatively novel and dangerous throw of pollution and highly persistent plastic. Over the past 65 years, the global annual production of plastic has grown from 1.5 million to 299 million metric tons (seaturtles.org) Of this, it is estimated that between 4 million and 12 million metric tons enter the oceans every year threatening sea turtles in extremely harmful ways. Hundreds of thousands of sea turtles and other marine mammals, and more than 1 million seabirds die each year from ocean pollution and ingestion or entanglement in marine debris. Plastic resources in our everyday life has a become a so called necessity which unfortunately is having devastating effects to our marine life world wide. This is why we need to come up with a new and innovative idea to create alternative products to combat this environmental issue.

We 're treating the oceans like a trash bin: around 80 percent of marine litter originates on land, and most of that is plastic. Plastic that pollutes our oceans and waterways has severe impacts on our environment and our economy. Seabirds, whales, sea turtles and other marine life are eating marine plastic pollution and dying from choking, intestinal blockage and starvation. Scientists are investigating the long-term impacts of toxic pollutants absorbed, transported, and consumed by fish and other marine life, including the potential effects on human health.

Due to their regurgitation ability; most studies have focused on the ingestion of plastic pollution by bird, this does little harm to birds used in the studies. The effects of ingestible plastic on fish have not been studied as thoroughly and no studies have been conducted on filter-feeding organisms, which do not possess a feeding mechanism which would allow them to distinguish between plastic and plankton. Plastic pollution is only getting worse due to increasing population of developing countries. A wide variety of marine species is known to be harmed by plastic debris. This could threaten the survival of certain species, especially since many are sadly endangered by other types of anthropogenic actions.