Plastic and Our Oceans

No matter where you live in the world, the ocean is your backyard. As conservationists and environmentalists, we should focus not only on protecting polar bear or Panamanian golden frog habitats thousands of miles away, but also on protecting habitats closer to home. Think globally, act locally. Additionally, the oceans connect every country in the world. If someone dumps oil or plastic in the ocean in China, it will probably show up on the California coastline.

Results from 2013 International
Coastal Clean-Up Day.
Courtesy of Ocean Conservancy.

International Coastal Clean-Up Day is September 20, 2014. In 2013, 648,015 volunteers picked up 12.3 million pounds of trash in over 92 countries. 2014 is trying to beat that record. But why is International Coastal Clean-Up Day so important?

Patricia Newman wrote Plastic, Ahoy!, a children's book investigating the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. In 2009, the Scripps Environmental Accumulation of Plastic Expedition (SEAPLEX) sailed from San Diego for three weeks to research the plastic collected in the Pacific Ocean. The plastic gathers in the North Pacific Central Gyre, an area of ocean three times bigger than the continental U.S. Four ocean currents meet in this area and are pushed clockwise by wind currents. The center of the gyre is a calm area where trash from all over the Pacific Ocean accumulates.

The Garbage Patch isn't really a floating island of trash. Most of the pieces of plastic are so small, that they are barely visible from the deck of a ship. Barnacles, crabs, fish eggs, and other organisms hitch rides through the ocean on the plastic pieces. If ocean rafters like these are having population booms due to the plethora of plastic homes, what will that do to the Gyre food chain? Will there be enough food to go around?

Furthermore, the connection between plastic and phytoplankton is unclear. Phytoplankton produces two thirds of the Earth's oxygen, removes carbon from the atmosphere, and acts as the basis for oceanic food chains, including humans. Without phytoplankton, fishing industries would collapse. Some studies show a sharp decrease in phytoplankton numbers since the 1940s, but scientists aren't sure if that decrease is linked to plastic.

A dead albatross on Midway Atoll,
an island in the North Pacific Central Gyre.
Its stomach is filled with plastic trash,
leaving no room for nutrients.
Photographed by Chris Jordan.

Additionally, oil (an unsustainable natural resource) is used to make plastic. Chemicals seep out of the plastic trash pieces floating in the ocean. Plastic also absorbs other pollutants in seawater. Marine life then eats the plastic pieces and absorbs the toxic chemicals and pollutants leaching out of the plastic. Plastic fills the stomachs of marine animals, leaving no room for real nutrients. Fish in the middle depths of the North Pacific eat 12,000-24,000 tons of plastic each year. Plastic is in the stomachs of one of out ten fish in the Pacific Ocean.

The build-up of plastic and chemicals in digestive systems affects not only oceanic micro-fauna, but macro-fauna like birds, whales, and humans. Through a process called bioaccumulation, animals higher up in the food chain accumulate more chemicals because they eat many smaller animals exposed to chemicals. Some of the chemicals leaching out of plastics are toxic enough to cause tumors in humans through bioaccumulation.

The SEAPLEX research team discovered plastic in 1,700 miles of open ocean in 2009 (the same distance from New York to Colorado).  Although the voyage answered many questions, there are still so many to be asked about plastic in the world's oceans. Many research teams worldwide are currently studying the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, as well as the other four major gyres around the world.

Patricia Newman, author of Plastic, Ahoy!

There are many ways you can help. Patricia Newman suggests:

1. Instead of asking for a to-go box in restaurants, bring your own washable storage container.
2. Bring reusable bags to the grocery store. Instead of using plastic bags for produce, use recycled paper bags.
3. Don't throw plastic utensils out after one use...wash them! Or use compostable utensils.
4. Use a reusable water bottle instead of buying plastic water bottles.
5. Use a reusable coffee mug.
6. Buy products from companies that use recycled plastic or glass.
7. Write to companies to encourage them to use recycled packing.
8. Collect empty bottles and plastic and take it to a recycling center.
9. Create a plastic-free day at work or school.
10. Carry the plastic you use around for a week to raise awareness of how much you use during that time.
11. Educate others about plastic use.

Or participate in International Coastal Clean-Up Day on September 20th! For more information, read Patricia Newman's blog about oceanic plastic.