An Ocean Of Birds Filled With Plastic

Photo: Part of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Credit: Clementine Northwest (clementinenw.com)

Recently, whilst reading my normal issue of Rolling Stone, I came across something incredibly shocking... When one thinks of Rolling Stone, you don't generally think of the environment. Shockingly enough, right in front of me was a 3-4 page article on Plastic Polution in the Pacific Ocean. I was amazed.

This wasn't any sort of new information for me, because I essentially grew up on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. Daily, during school, we were reminded to cut up our soda rings and dispose of our plastic properly. We were even shown pictures of dead sea turtles who mistook plastic rings as jellyfish and choked. I was instantly convinced and took it upon myself, every time we finished a six-pack of soda, to cut those darn rings into as small pieces as possible.

Photo: Sea Turtle Trapped in net found in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
Credit: crazicalvin911 of Zanga.com

Well, despite my previous knowledge, the article brought to light a couple of things I did not know. This article was called "An Ocean Of Plastic" and was written by Kitt Doucette.

In the Pacific Ocean, there is this thing called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. As you can tell from the title, it is a large patch of nothing but garbage!

How was it formed? The improper disposal of trash and plastic results in piles of garbage which enter the sea and are swept up by a swirling vortex called the North Pacific Gyre. The North Pacific Gyre is 10 million sq. miles in size. This vortex is a slow moving clockwise motion that pulls garbage and other materials into the center of the gyre, creating what is now known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch... What is shocking to me is the fact that this garbage patch is twice the size of TEXAS!

As if this intense pollution isn't a big enough problem, this patch of garbage is responsible for the accumulation of plastics in aquatic birds. Not only do they ingest these plastics, which they cannot digest, but these plastics release toxins capable of causing insurmountable damage and even death. So, aquatic birds eat this plastic detritus (of sorts), cannot digest it, often choke or starve to death. How do they starve? Well, due to the fact that they cannot digest any of this plastic, they fail to absorb nutrients. Birds are known to feed on just about anything, so they continue to feed on this plastic, creating a basic diet of pollution. This diet of plastic disrupts reproduction due to DDT content and causes cancers and skin lesions. It is believed that plastic debris kill an estimated 100,000 marine mammals and over 1 million sea birds every single year. This plastic pollution can essentially sign the extinction/death certificates of millions of birds and hundreds of species...

Photo: Decomposed Sea Bird Filled With Plastic

Credit: Maarten Eynde

and yet, we're not really doing anything about it! Aside from enforcing and preaching about reducing the amount of plastic utilized and disposing of plastic waste properly, we've essentially done nothing at all.

And realistically, the only thing we can do is scoop it all up... but then, what do we do with it?

Yet another challenge for environmentalist and wildlife biologists...

Please guys! Buy an aluminum water bottle! Dispose of your garbage properly and keep it out of our oceans!

Thanks for reading!

Ashley