Elyse Noll

Swimming in Plastic

               Figure 1 Tony the Tropical Fish               

      Have you ever went on vacation with your family to the beach? What was your favorite part? Was it building a sandcastle, or maybe collecting seashells, or playing in the water? My name is Tony the Tropical Fish and my favorite part about the ocean is that it is my home! I love to swim in the warm blue waters and play with all my other fish and marine animal friends. However, my home, the ocean, is currently becoming filled with trash from humans. Humans are causing marine pollution, which is when the ocean becomes contaminated, or dirtied, with waste or chemicals (1). 

Where does it come from?

       Plastic pollution comes from both land and marine debris, or waste (2). Plastic land debris comes from ordinary people just like you, your friends, and your family. It consists of the everyday plastic items you throw away. These objects include plastic packaging, silverware, plates, plastic bags, or any other plastic items. These objects can end up in open landfills or dumps and can be blown or washed away into the ocean (2). Can you name 10 plastic items that you used and threw away today? Just think of how many plastic products you use in a year! It's possible that there is some plastic item you used in the ocean right now, which isn't very good for me and my friends! 

   Figure 2 Escaped rubber ducks

      Another way plastic gets in the ocean is from marine debris. This comes from fishing boats and cargo ships, which transports goods across oceans. Some of the marine debris includes lost nets, fishing lines, floats, traps, and lost cargo ship containers (2). One example happened in 1992, when a shipping container fell off of a boat, and 29,000 yellow rubber ducks, blue turtles, and green frogs escaped into the ocean. These toys have been washing up on beaches around the world since they were lost, over 21 years ago (1). While it might be funny to picture real turtles and ducks playing with rubber duckies and turtles, the toys are a type of plastic pollution and can be harmful to me and my friends that live in or near the ocean.

What does the pollution consist of?

      In 2010, around 11,000 to 28,000 million pounds of plastic waste entered the ocean (2). Think of how many plastic bottles, bags, silverware, and other objects are in the ocean from the past couple of years alone! The plastic pollution collects in the ocean and never really leaves. However, there isn't a million plastic forks floating in the ocean! Instead, most of the plastics break down into tinier and tinier pieces, until they are invisible to the eye (1). These plastics are called microplastics and make up the largest component of plastic ocean pollution (1). You can't see these microplastics very easily, but they are still there all throughout the ocean. Just think, you might have been swimming in plastic when you went on vacation to the beach!

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Figure 3 Items found in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

      The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is one of the largest collections of plastic pollution in the ocean. It is located in the Pacific Ocean from the West Coast of North America to Japan (1). What do you think a great garbage patch looks like? While you might be picturing a floating landfill in the middle of the ocean, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is made up of invisible microplastics with larger items like plastic bags, bottles, and bins scattered throughout (1). Scientists who are studying ocean pollution have collected around  750,000 bits of these microplastics in a single square kilometer of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (1)! However, just because the garbage patch is mostly invisible doesn't mean it isn't a huge problem! Sometimes my friends and me accidentally eat these tiny plastics pieces, thinking that they are food. They can leak chemicals into our bodies, causing us to become sick or even die (3)! These microplastics can also end up in people too. Sometimes fish that have eaten microplastics end up being food that people eat. Just like in marine animals like me and my friends, chemicals in the plastic can make humans sick!

Albatrosses

     

  Figure 4 Adult and baby albatross  

Albatrosses are a type of seabirds that are severely affected by microplastics. The adult albatrosses hunt for food on the surface of the ocean and sometimes mistake microplastics and plastic pellets as fish eggs and feed them to their young (1). These plastics aren't good for the young birds because the plastic fills up their stomachs. Since their stomachs are filled with plastic, they can't eat other food! The young albatrosses can die from starvation or even ruptured organs (1). Researchers have found many dead albatrosses with stomachs filled with bottle caps, cigarette lighters, and other plastic items. There are many other types of plants and animals that are affected by plastic ocean pollution including sea turtles, plankton and algae, seals, and other marine mammals (1).

What you can do

   Figure 5 Reduce, Reuse, Recycle   

     You can help prevent plastic pollution by reducing, or cutting down, on the amount of plastic you buy, use, and throw away. Remember the three R's: reduce, reuse, recycle. Reduce the amount of plastic you use by asking your parents to use reusable shopping bags and to stop buying plastic water bottles. Instead you can buy a colorful, reusable water bottle that features your favorite character or movie! Reuse plastic jars into pencil holders or use plastic egg cartons to make fun crafts. What crafts do you think you can use an egg carton for? Recycle the plastic bottles, bags, and packaging you do use. Offer to help your mom or dad take it to your local recycling center! All these little things can add up if you and all your friends help! Will you help save mine and my friend's ocean home?

For more information on plastic ocean pollution go to these websites:

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Ocean Confetti: The challenge of microplastics video

References
(1) Turgeon, A. (n.d.). Great pacific garbage patch. Retrieved from National Geographic website: http://education.nationalgeographic.com/encyclopedia/great-pacific-garbage-patch/
(2) Tibbetts, J.H. (2015). Managing marine plastic pollution. Environmental Health Perspectives, 123(4), A90-A93. doi: 10.1289/ehp.123-A90
(3) Bernstein, M. (2009, August 16). Plastics in oceans decompose, release hazardous chemicals, surprising new study says. Retrieved from American Chemical Society website: http://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/pressroom
/newsreleases/2009/august/plastics-in-oceans-decompose-release-hazardous-chemicals-surprising-new-study-says.html
     Rubber Ducks. (2013). [Photograph]. Retrieved from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Response and Restoration website: http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/about/media/rubber-ducks-dog-food-spilling-everything-oil.html
     Plastic Debris. (n.d.). [Photograph]. Retrieved from National Geographic website: http://education.nationalgeographic.com/encyclopedia/great-pacific-garbage-patch/
     Albatrosses. (2012). [Photograph]. Retrieved from http://strayfeathers.com/2012/01
/14/wandering-albatross-gain-speed-with-climate-change/