The seas are a toxic soup, says Attenborough
BRITAIN: The world’s oceans are turning into a toxic soup of industrial waste and plastic, putting humanity at risk. That is the scale of man’s impact on the planet lain bare by Sir David Attenborough in the final episode of his groundbreaking BBC wildlife documentary series Blue Planet II.
The episode, which will screen this weekend, will show the horrifying death of an albatross chick whose gut has been punctured by a plastic toothpick, as well as potentially lethal polythene bags and plastic found in another chick’s stomach.
A necropsy performed on a dolphin will show that the young female had high levels of manmade toxins in its tissues, which led to its death. Dolphins are at the top of the food chain, and experts believe that adults ingest so much plastic that their offspring may be contaminated by their own mother’s milk.
‘‘Since its invention some 100 years ago, plastic has become an integral part of our daily lives, but every year some eight million tons of it ends up in the ocean,’’ Attenborough said. ‘‘While filming Blue Planet II, the crews found plastic in every ocean, even in the most remote locations.
‘‘Once in the ocean, plastic breaks down into tiny fragments, micro plastics. With industrial chemicals which have drained into the ocean, these form a potentially toxic soup.
‘‘Industrial pollution and discarding of plastic waste must be tackled for the sake of all life in the ocean. The future of humanity, and indeed all life on Earth, now depends on us.’’
The world’s oceans are drowning in human rubbish. More than 270 million tonnes of plastic are produced globally each year, and 10 per cent of this ends up in the sea. In the worst areas, it is estimated there is a 1:2 ratio of plastic to plankton, which, left unchecked, will outweigh fish within 35 years.
For the final episode, the filmmakers travelled to South Georgia, a British overseas territory in the South Atlantic Ocean that is home to a large albatross colony. The British Antarctic Survey has studied the colony for decades and has noticed rapid declines as increasing amounts of plastic enter the oceans. The birds become entangled in fishing gear and drown, or unwittingly feed plastic to their chicks.
‘‘For years, we thought that the oceans were so vast and the inhabitants so infinitely numerous that nothing we could do could have an effect upon them,’’ Attenborough said. ‘‘But now we know that was wrong. The oceans are under threat now as never before in human history.’’