There is a giant amorphous blob floating in the middle of the Pacific Ocean (note: not pictured here). The blob is known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch – basically, the ocean currents and our crap have combined to center lots of garbage in one spot (and it keeps growing). Aside from ruining the environment and being generally un-good, birds are mistaking this blob for food and bringing pieces of it to their young – killing them.
Here are some of the impacts this is having on wildlife, via Wikipedia:
Some of these long-lasting plastics end up in the stomachs of marine birds and animals, including sea turtles, and the Black-footed Albatross. Besides the particles’ danger to wildlife, the floating debris can absorb organic pollutants from seawater, including PCBs, DDT, and PAHs. Aside from toxic effects, when ingested, some of these are mistaken by the endocrine system as estradiol, causing hormone disruption in the affected animal. These toxin-containing plastic pieces are also eaten by jellyfish, which are then eaten by larger fish. Many of these fish are then consumed by humans, resulting in their ingestion of toxic chemicals. Marine plastics also facilitate the spread of invasive species that attach to floating plastic in one region and drift long distances to colonize other ecosystems.
For those that don’t think the environment is too important, or that this is too far away to matter, read that last part – this affects good, globe-owning People too.
I had heard about this in a story last year, but came across it again after seeing Chris Jordan’s photo slideshow from Discovery. From the site:
Chris Jordan’s work attempts to place the impact of consumerism in perspective. For his latest project he traveled to the Midway Islands, near the heart of the Pacific Trash Gyre , to photograph the decomposed bodies of chicks that have been fed plastic litter by confused parents.
It’s worth seeing the pictures to check out how bad this really is. Plastic bags have become ubiquitous in society, but local (read: San Francisco) efforts to ban them don’t get at the core problem – a consumable, throwaway culture. This gives you something to think about next time you empty your groceries. So remember, fill that blue bin outside your house or you are going to be eating mutant fish sometime soon.
