Four ways plastics are killing marine life, and reaching the oceans’ furthest depths
Despite countries and states adopting policies and methods to reduce plastic waste, the tide of pollution continues, with devastating results for sea life
During a research trip in Costa Rica in 2015, marine biologist Christine Figgener and her research team found a sea turtle with a plastic straw lodged in its nostrils. The video of them removing the straw is painful to watch, but it went viral online and alerted many to how plastic, especially single-use items, is harming the ocean and its inhabitants.
Three years on, countries and states are adopting policies to reduce plastic waste: New York is considering outlawing straws, while the European Commission has proposed banning items such as disposable cutlery and cotton buds. These actions could help reduce the volume of refuse entering our seas. However, as these recent cases show, much more needs to be done to reverse the effect of years of pollution.
Tiger shark filled with plastic bags
Trapman, a fisherman from Bermagui, a town on the south coast of New South Wales, Australia, caught a small tiger shark in March. While he usually releases tiger sharks, a near-threatened species, back into the sea, this one was caught in the ropes. When he cut it open, he was shocked to find a bunch of plastic bags and wrappers in its stomach.
Seal pup mistakes plastic for food
The Scottish Marine Stranding Animals Scheme, a government-funded organisation that investigates stranded marine animals, came across an usual case this week. After conducting a necropsy on an emaciated harp seal pup, the team found a piece of plastic partially lodged in the narrow opening in its stomach that leads to the intestines.
“Death due to plastic ingestion appears thankfully incredibly rare in cetaceans and seals, but in this case it is plausible this hungry pup mistook this small bit of floating plastic for food,” the organisation wrote on its Facebook page. “This case again highlights the problem of marine debris floating around in our oceans – for a weakened seal pup such as this, even a piece of plastic the size of a sweet wrapper is potentially fatal.”
