Remote island a dump after 38million pieces of trash wash ashore
Study says 3,750 new pieces of plastic trash wash up every day on one beach alone
Researchers found almost 38 million pieces of trash that washed up on a tiny uninhabited island in the Pacific Ocean.
Henderson Island, designated a World Heritage Site in part because of its bird life, has the highest density of plastic debris reported anywhere on the planet, according to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. Researchers estimate 37.7 million pieces of plastic litter the beaches.
“Far from being the pristine ‘ deserted island’ that people might imagine of such a remote place, Henderson Island is a shocking but typical example of how plastic debris is affecting the environment on a global scale,” Jennifer Lavers, a research scientist at University of Tasmania and study author, said in a statement.
The island, part of the U. K.’ s Pitcairn Island territory, is in the center of the South Pacific gyre ocean current, making it a bulls- eye for debris carried in ocean currents from South America or fishing boats, according to the University of Tasmania Institute for Marine and Antarctic studies.
Lavers was on an expedition to the island led by the British nature conservation charity RSPB when the discovery was made.
According to the study, 3,750 new pieces of plastic wash up each day on one beach alone. Lavers said there likely is even more since researchers were unable to sample along the island’s cliffs and rocky coastline.
“Research has shown that more than 200 species are known to be at risk from eating plastic, and 55% of the world’s seabirds, including two species found on Henderson Island, are at risk from marine debris,” Lavers said.