Study shows how plastic litter threatens sea life
NAPLES, Fla. – Plastic is everywhere.
From grocery store shopping bags to retail delivery packaging and plastic straws, the product has found its way into everyday life, but its widespread use has put sea life at risk.
For the first time, a study produced by the nonprofit ocean conservation organization Oceana reveals the extent of how harmful plastic can be to marine mammals.
“In our report, there are a lot of examples of what happens when marine mammals swallow plastic: lots of detrimental effects leading to, in the worst case, death,” lead author and Oceana senior scientist Kimberly Warner said. “There’s also quite a lot of pain and discomfort and sublethal effects by impacting or perforating the gut.”
Oceana’s report, “The Plastics Crisis Unfolding in Our Oceans,” details findings from government agencies, organizations and institutions that not only collect data on sea mammals ingesting plastic, but becoming entangled in it, too.
“When animals become entangled in plastic, they can drown, choke to death or suffer physical trauma, such as amputation and infection,” the report says.
Since 2009, the study shows nearly 1,800 animals from 40 different species were adversely affected by plastics. Among the largest groups were manatees and sea turtles and nearly 80% of the animals in the report were listed as threatened or endangered.
“The reason we could collect this data was the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act,” Warner said. “(Agencies) collect data on animals that show up on shores to discover if human interaction was involved. The only reason we could collect these data was these bedrock environmental laws.”
The study notes that not all animals affected by plastics are represented.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission sent data sets to Oceana for the study, including some 700 cases of sea turtles, manatees and other mammals.
While plastics in the oceans pose a global problem, a recent report published in Science Advances says the United States has generated the largest amount of plastic waste of any country.
The October 2020 report says, “the amount of plastic waste generated in the United States estimated to enter the coastal environment in 2016 was up to five times larger than that estimated for 2010, rendering the United States’ contribution among the highest in the world.”
Unfortunately, this problem can’t be solved by cleaning beaches alone, Warner said, “we need to turn off the tap of production.”
“Of course, people should mind their own plastic litter and if they see it out there try to collect it,” she said.
But Warner said local policies limiting the use of “needless” single-use plastic is the best bet.
Sea life faces many stressors including ever-intensifying storms brought on by climate change that destroy habitats and feeding grounds, Warner said, and plastics are just another needless problem added to the many threats they already face.