Marine Life & Conservation
Around 8 million items of litter enter the marine environment every day
I’m sure the headline of this article has caught your attention.
But marine litter doesn’t really make a difference to your or me does it? It’s just makes places look unpleasant.
It actually does affect us, in lots of different ways: it can poison the water, kill organisms, and even poison us.
Scottish fishing vessels have surveyed:
- 86% restricted catch due to marine litter
- 82% had catch contaminated
- 95% snagged gear on debris in water
Populations of commercial fish stocks are declining because of the bioaccumulation of litter-related toxins. For example, sewage goes into the ocean every day and contains bacteria and viruses, and then you have the nutrients entering from agricultural wash off leading to algal blooms and dead zones. Fifty years ago there were only 49 known ocean dead zones… now there is over 400 worldwide.
Marine litter is a global issue, but all is not lost. Some dead zones can be temporary and repaired, but we need to change our ways as a species now. If we work together we can really make a difference.
Every year there are new legislations being passed to limit the amount of litter entering our waters. But there is still so much left to be done and we can make a difference.
There is so much you can do!
- Talk to your children: Explain to them in simple terms the effects of their litter and the importance that they clean up after themselves. I’ve linked a helpful site with ways to discuss the situation with young children.
- Clean up after yourselves: When you are out make sure you clean up your own litter (if possible you could clean up some other litter too – only footprints should be left).
- Litter picks: Why not start a day out by joining a local litter pick? It doesn’t even have to be at a beach! When you attend a litter pick make sure you have the correct precautions such as gloves and sturdy shoes, and please keep an eye on any children taking part, because you never know what they could find
- In 2014 Surfers against Sewage (SAS) organised 335 beach clean-ups and received over nine thousand volunteers in the UK. Their goal is to have reduced litter on UK beaches by 50% by 2020, a goal which is easily reachable if we all work together and volunteer. There is an estimated 41,146,380 pieces of marine litter on the British coast line. Sounds like an impossible goal, huh? Actually, in 2014 SAS collected almost 60 tonnes of litter. To learn more about SAS litter picks and how you can organise your own please click on this link: SAS beach clean campaign
- Internationally there is www.oceanconservancy.org who are working to organise international litter picks each year. This year it will be held on September 17th 2016. The site has some great information about how to reduce your litter effect for individuals and even businesses so why not check them out and sign their litter pick pledge.
- Use less plastic: Plastic bags can take anywhere from 150 years to over a thousand before they degrade. Plastic bage are not biodegrade though; instead they are broken down by light into tiny fragments of plastic, which are toxic, and are known as microplastics. According to Greenpeace there are an estimated 1,000,000 birds, 100,000 turtles, and countless other sea organisms dying each year from ingesting plastic bags alone. The bags are mistaken for jellyfish and other forms of edible sea creatures. Then you have microplastics which can be formed from the breakdown of larger plastics, but are also placed in products – like the ones in face scrubs and toothpastes, for example. Due to the tiny size it’s bypassed by water treatment and is washed down to the rivers, streams, and eventually the ocean. To see what different products contain microplastics look at this link.
- Compost: Remember earlier I mentioned algal blooms? Well they can be caused by chemicals in the food we throw away or wash down or drains.
If you have the room and the time (it’s really simple) you could set up a compost heap, which not only reduces the amount of organic matter going into our oceans, but also can be used instead of artificial fertilizers.
Some easy steps for setting up a home compost:
- A home compost bin should be at least 1 metre cubed, with a lid to prevent rain entering.
- Ideally site your compost bin in a reasonably sunny site on bare soil.
- Bottomless bins are better as the allow earthworms to enter and speed up the process.
- Lots of food waste can be used to make compost, except meat/fish products, dairy products, grease/oil or bones.
- The smaller your scraps are cut the quicker then can decompose.
- You can compost peelings, egg shells, hair, small amounts of paper/softcard, plants, and tea/coffee particles.
- Keep filling it!
- Composting can take weeks or months depending on how much air and moisture are present.
- The compost is ready to use when it is crumbly in appearance and has a slightly earthy smell.
- Spread away!
This isn’t an extensive list of how you can reduce the amount of litter going into the ocean: it’s only the tip of the iceberg, but it’s a start.
Article sources:
Marine Litter – An Analytical Overview – UNEP 2005
http://www.sas.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/SAS-Marine-Litter-Report-Med.pdf
The Ocean Cleanup, the global non-profit project, has removed a verified all-time total of ten million kilograms (22 million lbs.) of trash from oceans and rivers around the world – approximately the same weight as the Eiffel Tower.
To complete its mission of ridding the oceans of plastic, The Ocean Cleanup uses a dual strategy: cleaning up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) to remove the plastic already afloat in the oceans, while stopping the flow of plastic from the world’s most polluting rivers.
Through cleaning operations in the GPGP and in rivers in eight countries, the cumulative total of trash removed has now surpassed ten million kilograms. This milestone demonstrates the acceleration of The Ocean Cleanup’s impact, while underlining the astonishing scale of the plastic pollution problem and the need for continued support and action.
While encouraging for the mission, this milestone is only a staging point: millions more tons of plastic still pollute our oceans and The Ocean Cleanup intends to continue learning, improving and innovating to solve this global catastrophe.
This announcement comes as governments from around the world meet to continue negotiations to develop a new legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution at INC4 in Ottawa, Canada. Representatives of The Ocean Cleanup will be in attendance and the organization will be urging decision-makers to collaborate towards a comprehensive and ambitious global treaty which addresses plastic at all stages of its life cycle and in all marine environments worldwide, including in areas beyond national jurisdiction.
It is encouraging to see that the need for remediation is reflected in the various options for potential treaty provisions. It is essential that the final treaty contains clear targets for the remediation of legacy plastic pollution, and reduction of riverine plastic emissions.
Tackling plastic pollution requires innovative and impactful solutions. The treaty should therefore incentivize the innovation ecosystem by fostering innovations that make maximal use of data, technology and scientific knowledge – such as those designed and deployed by The Ocean Cleanup.
‘After many tough years of trial and error, it’s amazing to see our work is starting to pay off – and I am proud of the team who has brought us to this point.’ said Boyan Slat, Founder and CEO of The Ocean Cleanup. ‘While we still have a long way to go, our recent successes fill us with renewed confidence that the oceans can be cleaned.’
The Ocean Cleanup was founded in 2013 and captured its first plastic in 2019, with the first confirmed catch in the GPGP coming soon after the deployment of Interceptor 001 in Jakarta, Indonesia. After surpassing one million kilograms of trash removed in early 2022, the non-profit project has since progressed to the third iteration of its GPGP cleaning solution, known as System 03, and a network of Interceptors currently covering rivers in eight countries, with more deployments set for 2024.
About The Ocean Cleanup
The Ocean Cleanup is an international non-profit organization that develops and scales technologies to rid the world’s oceans of plastic. They aim to achieve this goal through a dual strategy: stemming the inflow via rivers and cleaning up the legacy plastic that has already accumulated in the ocean. For the latter, The Ocean Cleanup develops large-scale systems to efficiently concentrate the plastic for periodic removal. This plastic is tracked and traced through DNV’s chain of custody model to certify claims of origin when recycling it into new products. To curb the tide via rivers, The Ocean Cleanup has developed Interceptor™ solutions to halt and extract riverine plastic before it reaches the ocean. Founded in 2013 by Boyan Slat, The Ocean Cleanup now employs a broadly multi-disciplined team of approximately 140. The foundation is headquartered in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
For more information, visit: theoceancleanup.com and follow @theoceancleanup on social media.
Marine Life & Conservation
Steve Backshall to headline Shark Trust’s flagship event: For the Love of Sharks
Join a host of amazing, shark loving, speakers including Steve Backshall and the Shark Trust team for an evening celebrating shark conservation at the Royal Geographical Society in London this November.
Date: 29th November 2024
Time: 6-10pm
Location: Royal Geographical Society, London
Tickets: https://www.sharktrust.org/Event/flos24
The event will be a celebration of all things shark. Those lucky enough to get hold of tickets will hear from engaging guest speakers with a passion for sharks.
The line-up includes (*subject to change if unforeseen circumstances arise)
Steve Backshall: One of television’s busiest presenters, BAFTA award-winning wildlife expert Steve has been passionate about the wild world ever since he was young.
Steve’s impressive TV career has taken him all around the world, investigating a wide array of species and environments. Steve has filmed over 100 hours of children’s wildlife programmes with the BAFTA award winning Deadly 60 franchise and recently, with Sky Nature, for his new series ‘Whale with Steve Backshall’. He has been a patron for the Shark Trust for 10 years.
Simon Rogerson: is a photojournalist specialising in natural history, diving and the sea.
He is editor of SCUBA magazine, the official journal of the British Sub-Aqua Club. Simon started his career as a crime reporter but gravitated towards his ‘less depressing’ interest in underwater exploration, joining the staff of DIVE magazine in 1999. In 2005 he was named ‘Editor of the Year’ in the PPA’s Independent Publishing Awards. Simon also works as a freelance writer, contributing frequently to the Sunday Times and Telegraph, in addition to BBC Wildlife, Esquire, and a host of international diving magazines. He is the author of a book, Dive Red Sea, published by Ultimate Sports. Now based in Berkshire, Simon has been a Patron of the Shark Trust for 20 years.
More speakers to be announced soon. Head to the Shark Trust website to learn more.
The evening will also allow guests the final chance to see the Oceanic 31, shark art exhibition. Some of the artwork will be auctioned/raffled at the event, while the rest will be auctioned online to raise money for the Shark Trust Oceanic Programme.
For the Love of Sharks is an evening with something for everyone who is interested and fascinated by sharks. Join the Shark Trust, their Patrons, Trustees and Staff, along with a host of supporters for this celebration of shark conservation.
For more information or to buy a ticket: https://www.sharktrust.org/Event/flos24
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