Passively surveying the depths of the sea from a shrouded perch, they lie in wait…anticipating the precise moment when they should tempt their intended prey with delectably deadly faux food. Even when fully consumed, these daredevil predators will never fully seize to exist, proving that at least in this situation, Russian Roulette isn’t so nail-biting after all. So gullible, so easy to dupe…ravenous marine fauna are the ideal candidates to fall hook, line and sinker for ocean bound post consumer waste. Each pulsing underwater current and shimmering ray of light showcases the deceptively appetizing nature of society’s endless cast aside plastic and metallic objects to such a degree that they are gamely slurped up by whales, sea turtles, seals, marine birds (**particularly albatross**) and various additional ocean creatures.
Seattle marine debris expert and oceanographer Dr. Curtis Ebbesmeyer says that if allowed to sit for an extended period of time in the ocean, one pound of plastic will slowly but surely be transformed into 100,000 small pieces of plastic due to a combination of wave activity and ultraviolet light. Scientists believe that 100 million sea creatures -- including a combination of one million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals and sea turtles -- die annually from this foreign and highly toxic diet. Among the most troubling chemicals that they ingest are bisphenol A (BPA), styrene trimer and PS, all of which compromise hormone function and trigger reproductive issues. Take a look at the following list of notorious ocean bound assassins and then seriously consider what you can personally do to curb the amount of waste your household generates as well as how to ramp up your recycling efforts. While banishing plastic altogether is the most ideal solution, regardless of your personal decision, we all have a responsibility as planetary citizens to successfully turn the tide.
Aluminum Foil and Cans
When human beings carelessly dispose of this notoriously recyclable material into street sewer systems, while spending time on boats or while lounging on beaches, hungry sea creatures ingest it and suffer from internal lacerations while others get enveloped and starve to death. Aluminum can exist for as long as 200 – 500 years, aluminum foil lids and pie plates last 10 years, and foil wrap approximately 5 years.
Balloons
Released in the air to mark festive occasions, balloons are also used by fishermen as “bobbers” so they know when they’ve secured a fish on their line. In both cases, far too many people seem to forget about cleaning up their mess at the end of the day. This might explain why the Marine Conservation Society determined that there has been 260% increase in Atlantic shore balloon pollution. Deflated rubber balloons with ribbons still attached have also been found twisted around seabirds’ beaks and blocking the digestive tracts of marine creatures such as sharks, loggerhead turtles and dolphins.
Batteries
Of the 3 billion one-time-use batteries that Americans purchase each year, approximately 179,000 tons enter our landfills and then many of them move on to live out a water-bound existence. Discharging highly toxic metal pollution into our sea -- including mercury, cadmium and lead – they are believed to have a lifespan of thousands upon thousands of years.
Bottle Caps
Made out of Polypropylene (PP) plastic, these colorful circular mechanisms are one of top favored snacks of sea birds -- along with disposable lighters, toys, plastic tubing, etc. -- almost always giving them a one way ticket to permanently swim with the fishes, if you catch my drift.
Cargo Ship Castaways
Unexpected storms are the main source of blame for the 10,000+ shipping containers that are lost at year annually, spilling forth everything from Nike sneakers, thousands of bags of Doritos brand tortilla chips, computer monitors and assorted parts, hockey gloves, millions upon millions of plastic Legos, and even rubber ducks and countless other assorted toys.
Cigarette Butts
Containing a toxic blend of soluble chemicals that can leach out into the water within one hour of contact, cigarette butts are biodegradable, but depending on the studies that have been conducted, some scientists have found that discarded cellulose acetate filters can take an estimated 36+ months for to fully break down.
Condoms
Most commonly made out of natural latex rubber, once condoms are erroneously flushed down the toilet, they almost always take a long, swimmingly adventurous trek from the local sewer system all the way to ocean. It is there that they join the ranks of other malleable items that are marine-based doppelgangers and get ingested, causing serious obstruction, starvation and death.
Dental Floss
Teflon and/or polyethylene filaments may help us to engage in diligent oral hygiene, but once used, they belong in the trash can rather than in the toilet. Unfortunately, people continue flushing their used floss, where it not surprisingly drifts off into the ocean and is ingested or simply just strangles marine life.
Discarded Oil
It’s just a little oil…maybe it was carried off of the pavement by a torrential downpour and into local rivers and then lakes and finally the ocean. Shouldn’t be much of a problem, right? Wrong. Containing magnesium as well as benzene, lead, and zinc, motor oil that is discarded in a septic system or directly into the ground ends up joining the 363 million gallons already floating in the sea, much of it from cars and industrial waste, all of which harms vast biological communities.
Photo Courtesy of Judith and Richard Lang
Disposable Plastic Lighters
It’s no longer a surprise that albatross chicks are dying at an alarming rate – it’s just plain sad because they are unwittingly feeding on huge lighters, bottle caps and other plentiful plastic refuse that ends up blocking their esophagus, triggering malnutrition, dehydration and death.
Drinking Straws
Made out of Polypropylene (PP) plastic, these one-time-use items more often than not a very common part of the ocean bound flotsam that marine creatures mistake for food. When ingested, they can cause blockages and death due to starvation.
Feminine Products
The Ocean Conservancy’s 2009 International Coastal Cleanup project yielded them 20,000 tampon applicators among 4 million total pieces of reclaimed plastic waste, but this is the norm rather than the except as most cleanup efforts will attest. Sanitary pads are no better. Lasting roughly 25 years during their ocean bound journey before breaking down into smaller bits, they are often be ingested by marine life, causing digestion blockage and death.
Fishing Nets
Responsible for killing diverse ocean-bound species including seabirds, crocodiles, turtles, sea lions, fish, dolphins, crabs and sharks, typical nets are made out of nylon materials which heap further ecological insult upon injury.
Food Wrappers
Ever wonder how this type of disposable food packaging keeps edibles contained without leaking or being prone to grease stains? The plastic, Mylar and sometimes paper-based materials are commonly coated with diPAP chemicals which end up breaking down into potentially carcinogenic perfluorooctane sulfonates (PFOA) – definitely bad for humans and really awful for the marine ecosystem and its already contaminated creatures.
Mesh Plastic Fruit & Vegetable Bags
Designed to allow proper air circulation for specific types of produce, woven plastic onion sacks (among other varieties of bags) have been found wrapped around endangered Hawksbill Sea Turtles and partially swallowed by their fellow ocean neighbors.
Medical Waste
America’s Ocean Dumping Act – created in 1972 to prevent and/or address intentional disposal of inappropriate waste materials into the sea – penalizes offenders with as much as 5 years in prison and/or up to $125,000 for civil violations as well as up to $250,000 for criminal violations. This is apparently still not enough of a threat to discourage people from covertly chucking used needles, dental red bag waste and other entirely dangerous and potentially contaminating materials into the sea.
Nurdles (also known as “Mermaid Tears”)
Measuring 2mm across, these raw plastic resin pellets are shipped around the world so that they may be turned into the plastic convenience products that we know and love, but on occasion, they spill during transport, adding to the already prolific plastic ocean-bound confetti that kills marine life (who mistakenly think that they are tasty looking fish eggs). Additionally, post-consumer plastic junk that is discarded directly into the ocean ultimately undergoes a metamorphosis into makeshift plastic nurdles that may not be as small as the aforementioned version but they successfully trick hungry sea life just as effectively.
Paper Bags
While this type of bag doesn’t seem like it should share company with the other offenders in this lineup, studies have determined that the manufacturing process used to create kraft paper bags generates far more toxic chemicals and pollutants than plastic bags. With a relatively limited lifespan of 4 weeks before fully decomposing in water, paper bags are still a nuisance to marine life because they can seriously compromise digestion capabilities.
Plastic Bags
An integral part of our culture for 50+ years, typical polyethylene bags – which are believed to possess a 500 – 1000 year lifespan -- are composed of a man-made polymer plastic that doesn’t biodegrade (since microorganisms won’t gobble it up). However, the material does break down when exposed to ultraviolet radiation, making it brittle and able to infiltrate every corner of the ocean with relative ease.
Plastic Beverage Rings
You know those handy lightweight devices that have held six packs of beverages together for the last 50 years? Despite being made to photo degrade 90 days after being discarded, they continue to be responsible for strangling and otherwise contributing to far too many wildlife fatalities.
Photo Courtesy of Judith and Richard Lang
Plastic Toys
Famously washed overboard during a turbulent storm during 1992, 28,000 China-made “Friendly Floatee” bath toys – including turtles, ducks, beavers and frogs – continue to be recovered all over the world, but they share company with countless other plastic trinkets and play things that tumble into the ocean whether through accident or careless disposal.
Polystyrene Containers
Within one year of being submerged in the ocean, extruded polystyrene foam begins to decompose, releasing chemicals that are absorbed into the water and consumed by marine life in the parts-per-million range. Still used in the manufacture of to-go containers as well as coffee cups, packaging material, thermal insulation and craft items, this material is among the worst environmentally speaking because it never “goes away.”
Produce Bags & Trash Can Liners
Low Density Polyethylene bags tend to be a dead-ringer for jellyfish as they pulse serenely through the sea, but once they’re consumed by sea creatures, they almost always cause them to die. If the bag happens to have a colored logo on it, chances are pretty good that the colorant used in the ink contains toxic lead.
Soda & Water Bottles
As with many of their plastic cousins, these ubiquitous containers -- made out of PETE Polyethylene Terephthalate -- are created by mixing crude oil-extracted hydrocarbons with chemical catalysts. With 2 million being used by thirsty American consumers every 5 minutes, it would behoove us to responsibly recycle them, but research studies have found that less than 10% of them actually are. The rest end up wallowing away in landfills and the sea where they release a toxic chemical cocktail that penetrates the flesh of marine animals, ultimately affecting humans via the food chain.
Toothbrushes
Almost always plastic in construction, the typical brush consists of entirely non-biodegradable flexible synthetic nylon fibers as well as an equally non-biodegradable rigid handle. Destined to enter the waste stream in as little as 3 months flat, the typical human uses 11 pounds of toothbrushes in their lifetime, untold numbers of which have been found in the Atlantic and Pacific garbage patches.
Surinder Saini
said on March 31, 2010