Our Oceans Are Drowning In Plastic

There is now so much plastic in our oceans, they are drowning in it!

 



The ocean is the origin and the engine of all life on this planet — and it is under threat.

The future for our oceans is bleak

For years campaigners have been fighting over-fishing, climate change, pollution, habitat loss and the murder of cetaceans and other marine life. In 2017, the future of our oceans is bleak! It’s that simple.

What most people are tending to ignore is the fact we need our oceans for our continued survival.  Call me extreme, call me alarmist, call me what you like but do some research and you will see I am right.

Our oceans provide around 50% of our oxygen; our oceans are depended on by millions of poor people around the world as a main food source; our oceans are giant hydro pumps used to give us fresh water. By devastating our oceans, we devastate our water, food and oxygen. None of which we can survive for long without.

We are surrounded by evidence: only a few months ago I was horrified to read the Great Barrier Reef was dead. Whilst this announcement was a little premature, new evidence suggests that based on the current rate of bleaching, we have about 20 years left to enjoy it. Experts now believe by 2050, we will have lost 90% of our coral reefs through acidification of seawater and changing climates. ‘What does this have to do with me? How can I do anything about it?’ I hear you cry from your comfy sofas and beds.

What can we do?

Actually, there are two things you can do: firstly, you can tell your children/grandchildren how we have raped and pillaged the ocean’s resources to death; or, you can consciously support a cause so your grandchildren can enjoy taking their children to the seaside for a trip and find creatures in rock pools rather than explain in detail the things they could be finding if we hadn’t killed them all. This is the reality we now face.

Remember days spent at the seaside as a child? I spent mine trawling through rock pools and creating my own eco system in the camping bin before stinking out our tent as I proudly showed off ‘the biggest crab ever!’ We want our future generations to enjoy these childhood seaside experiences, not experience them vicariously. Oh, you might also want to think twice about eating sea food when you read the following. Weak stomachs be warned!

The truth about plastic

Climate change is not the only problem. The fuliginous truth of the damage to our oceans from plastic has now reared its head, years after the warnings of oceanic destruction have been labelled ‘alarmist’ amidst declarations that plastic was not, in actual fact, a problem in our oceans. Straws alone – of which McDonalds use 500 million per day – take over 400 years to biodegrade and they’re finding their way into our oceans. Consequently, so are millions of tonnes of other plastic.

Greenpeace have made a pledge against plastics as every year turtles, cetaceans and fish are killed when entangled in, or by eating, plastic debris. They claim 8 million tonnes of plastic will be jettisoned into our oceans this year, adding to the area in the north Pacific already the size of the UK. Since 3 in 7 of us depend on sea food for protein, it’s time we start to take this threat more seriously.

From all the key organisations fighting to keep campaigns from ending up on the rocks, one key message stands out:  human well-being is as much at threat as marine life. Conserve International supports the creation of ocean places that that harbor natural resources and are critically important for people’s well-being. They envision healthy oceans benefiting all life on Earth in perpetuity, not just the lives of marine animals.

“Nurdles” or plastic pellets are a serious problem, being eaten by marine life that is then poisoned and dies. Once their bodies decompose, nurdles are free to float about until another unsuspecting victim swallows them. Looking not dissimilar to their own food, fish eat these micro-plastics and absorb toxins. When we eat the fish, we eat the toxins, putting strain on our health.

In a bid to help save the oceans from plastic, June 2016 saw celebrated artist Julian Schnabel, famous photographer David LaChapelle and eco-activist Paul Watson team up with Cyrill Gutsch, founder of Parley for the Oceans. “Protecting the oceans goes far beyond defending marine wildlife,” explains Schnabel. “Defending the oceans is about defending humanity.” This is the message the world seems to be missing so I’ll keep repeating it.

Head to the Parley web page and it wastes no time informing us of the five ‘vortexes’  whirling plastic debris about as I type out this sentence. The North Pacific vortex has around 40 million pounds of plastic in it.  With this new perspective your question should not be ‘what can I do about it’ but ‘what can I do about the contaminated fish I just ate?’ Yes, any seafood you now eat is potentially contaminated by plastic and other ocean debris, rendering it pretty risky to eat.

The five vortexes of plastic in the oceans.

Along with this plastic is the tens of thousands of miles of ghost nets and lines that ensnare the necks of turtles and sea lions, causing unnecessary protracted suffering.

Making a difference

So, what can we minions do to help these guardian angels of our oceans? There are several things, actually. Very simply, you can use a metal water bottle instead of buying plastic ones. Use re-useable bags when shopping – easier now there is the 5p surcharge per bag and avoid plastic packaging as much as you can.

Alongside this, you can also boycott certain products where fish has been caught in nets. Support a conservation society – despite the severity of what we are doing to our seas – donations are always needed to help fight against the demise of the oceans. You can organise a beach clean-up near you. You may need to contact local councils or authorities but is shouldn’t be a difficult process. For all you salty sea dogs, organisations always need volunteers to help programmes being run – some don’t even require you to have nautical knowledge for all you land lubbers. If couch surfing is more your water sport, nothing stops you re-tweeting or sharing posts to help save the oceans.

As much as I hate to bring his name into it, it is also worth bearing in mind Donald is taking steps to abolish the Environment Protection Agency. With budgets cut, jobs will go and less attention will be given to what is now a very serious threat to human survival. Now Trump has his heart set on getting richer and ignoring the problems we face, donations are more important than ever.

In Sea Shepherd USA’s President Paul Watson’s own words, ‘if the oceans die, we all die’.

With these words resonating in your mind, below are a few sites with information about how you can help.

http://www.adventurescience.org/microplastics
https://www.theoceancleanup.com
http://www.conservation.org/what/pages/oceans
www.seashepherdglobal.org/
www.greenpeace.org.au/Donate/Reef
www.msc.org/healthy-oceans/
www.mission-blue.org/act