Marine Debris Research

How Plastic Affects Marine Life

Prepared by Constantinos Akrivos Summer 2013

Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................4 Ocean Benefits Earth and Human Communities.........................................................5 What is Marine Debris.................................................................................................7 Sources of Marine Debris............................................................................................8 Mechanical Debris Removal.......................................................................................9 Plastic Decomposition................................................................................................11 Effects on Marine Life...............................................................................................12 Examples of Plastic Pollution....................................................................................12 Categories of Marine Pollution.................................................................................13 Direct Environmental Impacts...................................................................................14 Ingestion Impact........................................................................................................14 Entanglement Impact.................................................................................................15 Ecosystem Alteration.................................................................................................15 Indirect Environmental Impacts................................................................................16 Ecosystem Alteration.................................................................................................16 Transportation of Invasive Species Impact................................................................16 More dangerous in Ocean rather Than in Land........................................................18 Effects on Human Communities................................................................................19 Health Impacts...........................................................................................................19 Economical Impacts..................................................................................................20 Tourism......................................................................................................................20 Fishing.......................................................................................................................20 Navigation.................................................................................................................21 Prevent the Destruction.............................................................................................22 Activism.....................................................................................................................23 International Law about Marine Debris...................................................................23 European Law for Marine Debris.............................................................................24 United States Law for Marine Debris.......................................................................25
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Other Types of Law for Marine Debris.....................................................................25 Methodology..............................................................................................................26 Conclusion................................................................................................................27 Bibliography...............................................................................................................28 Online Resources.......................................................................................................30

Introduction
Over the last decades the marine pollution has become a very important threat to water habitats and to human communities. The oceans benefit the whole planet but the marine debris seems to be an unstoppable foe to its procedure. Marine debris is dangerous for all marine animals. Its main component is human made waste, usually plastic, which does not biodegrade easily. Plastic bags, cloths, tins, cans, landfills, garbage transportation and other such items are the main sources of this anthropogenic debris. The consequences of the plastic debris affect the human societies although there are always ways to prevent the entire destruction of marine ecosystems. Many activists such as Greenpeace organization have tried to sensitize citizens and governments for the protection of the marine environments. For this reason it have been prepared conventions for preventing the pollution from ships and ocean dumping. Yet, the effects of marine debris in marine life and as an expansion the effects of marine debris in human communities can be devastating if drastic measures do not be taken soon.

Ocean Benefits Earth and Human Communities

All societies rely on the ocean and its resources, whether is the food we eat or the oxygen we breath. Before we start analyze the effects of plastic in marine life, lets check briefly the services that ocean provides us.

Ocean transfers the heat from the equator to the poles and moderates carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, affecting climate and weather patterns. Seafood is a major source of protein and ocean offers this staple food to us. Seafood helps in economical terms, because it has alter to one of the most exported items in the global market today. More than 90 percent of global trade is account on ocean-bound shipping. Marine plants and animals sources provides new biochemical or medical products that accounts human health.

More specific all the benefits that ocean offers to the planet life: Climate Regulation Food Economy Transportation Medicine

Hence aqua ecosystems are a great fount of aid for our planet, in terms of climate regulation or in food, economical issues, which aftermaths in helping us. But the marine debris bottle prevent this process. Before though, we analyze what are actually the effects

of plastics in water environments, we have to definite marine debris first.

What is Marine Debris

Marine litter is human waste that has been thrown on purpose or accidentally in water ecosystems like lakes, waterways or in oceans. Now and again, ocean debris tends to conglomerate on coastlines or at the center of gyres. It is known as beach litter too. Although the waste at sea is called ocean dumping or marine debris.

Humans have played a major role in the creation of many types of plastic, along with the increase of plastic itself, which does not biodegrade. Obviously, the marine debris is comprised of plastic materials. The average proportion varies between 60 to 80 percent of total marine plastic debris. The 90 to 95 percent of the total amount of marine debris in many regions, constitute plastic materials.

This waterborne plastics are not only a threat to most marine animals such as fishes, seabirds, marine reptiles and marine mammals but are threat to boats and coasts as well. The effects of marine debris in aqua life will be discussed later on, but keep in mind that the ocean dumping posses danger to the human communities too.

Sources of Marine Debris

Eighty percent of the marine debris comes from plastic (Weisman (2007). This 80 percent of marine debris comes from land-based sources like factories, as clarified in 1991, the United Nations Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Pollution. So, most of the marine debris is urban runoff and through storm drains gets to the water environments.

The main sources of types of anthropogenic debris are: i. litter (bags, cans, singe-use disposable products, food containers) ii. industrial discharges iii. garbage transportation iv. landfills v. construction debris vi. debris from commercial establishments and public venues.

Concurrently, the other 20 percent of marine debris comes from ocean-based sources, such as overboard discharges from ships and discarded fishing gear.

Food containers and packaging are the largest component of the municipal solid waste stream; 80 million tons or in terms of statistics, 31.7 percent. Together with plastic bags, these items represent the largest component of marine debris. Lastly, packaging and single use disposable products manage to unstable use precious resources, like oil, trees, water or energy sources, as well as harming the water environment.

In 1992, thousands of rubber ducks and other toys went overboard during a storm. As a result the toys have since been found all over the world, providing a better understanding of ocean currents. Similar incidents have happened before, such as when Hansa Carrier dropped 21 containers (with one notably containing buoyant Nike shoes) as Marsha Walton stated in CNN in 2008. Another notable source of marine debris was the container ship in 2007, MSC Napoli were it beached in the English Channel, dropping hundreds of containers, most of which washed up on the Jurassic Coast, a World Heritage Site, according to BBC.

As strange as it seems marine litter can be found on the floor of the Arctic ocean as 2012 CBS News article declares. Another source of debris is in Halifax Harbour, Nova Scotia, where 52 percent of items were generated by recreational use of an urban park, 14 percent from sewage disposal and only 7 percent from shipping and fishing activities (Walker et all., 2006).

Mechanical Debris Removal

Specialized mechanical equipment such as Trash Hunter have been designed for the removal of marine debris. These specialized boats can gather easily the manmade and organic floating debris from the waterway. These activities take place only for emergency reasons. Trash traps are installed as well on small rivers to capture waterborne debris before it reaches the sea. South Australia's Adelaide operates a number of such traps, for example, which are known as "trash racks" or "gross pollutant traps" on the Torrens River,

which flows into the large inlet of water, Gulf St Vincent, during wet seasons.

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Plastic Decomposition
Polyethylene terephthalate or PET is a powerful, nearly indestructible morph of plastic used to make most containers and bottles. PET like all petroleum-based plastics don't decompose as the organic material does. Usually it takes plastic over 100 years to biodegrade in heat temperatures and its biodegradation differs in comparison to wood, grass or fruits like apples, which biodegrade in one to two months. Plastic is petroleumbased and this is why it does not biodegrade easily, so it cannot be easy compostable.

In a few words Biodegradable plastic is plastic that has been treated by microorganisms, like bacteria to be easily broken down and return to the natural enviroment. But most commonly used plastics do not mineralize in the ocean and instead break down into smaller and smaller pieces, the microplastics.

Plastic biodegradation in ocean is more difficult to happen than land, because ocean is a cold place where heat temperatures are quite low. In oceans then, plastic debris do not mineralize but instead breaks down in small pieces which cannot be seen without a microscope.

Besides, plastic can degrade quicker at cooler temperatures rather than heat temperatures according to Japan-based scientists. In 2009 the high school student, Daniel Burd, managed to discover a microbe that eats plastic and manages to decomposes it. The result either way is that the plastic when decomposes is leaching toxic chemicals into seas, putting in danger marine animals and human communities.

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Effects on Marine Life

Examples of Plastic Pollution

Plastic pollution leads more and more marine animals to their death or to injuries. Therefore, marine litter has become a vast and growing threat to the marine and coastal ecological communities. Most marine litter consists of material that degrades slowly. If continue to happen an input of large quantities of these items then the marine and coastal environments will face a serious threat.

For example a sea turtle when it sees the floating plastic in the ocean, thinks its a jellyfish. Many birds too eat small pieces of plastic which seems like fish eggs to them. Marine animals tend to eat the plastic leftovers believing that its their food.

Another example of plastic pollution is when in 2010, a California gray whale washed up dead on the shores of the Puget Sound. Its stomach contained a pair of pants and a golf ball, more than 20 plastic bags, small towels, duct tape and surgical gloves, according to the local autopsies.

A study found that approximately 98% of seabird's chicks sampled contained plastic and the quantity of plastic being was increasing over time. And that because seabirds likely feed their chicks with ocean surface plastic debris, thinking is some kind of sea food or fish eggs, turning out in detrimental effects on chick growth and survival. 12

Fishing nets can be devastating as well for the water habitats. Fishermen use to leave leave or lose their nets in the ocean. The result of this act is that sea creatures like fish, dolphins, turtles, sharks, crocodiles, seabirds, crabs and other creatures are being entangled on these ghost nets. These nets cause to them starvation, restrict movement, laceration, infection and in animals such as turtles who breath air, suffocation.

According to United Nations Environment Programme plastic shopping bags can clog digestive tracts when consumed and can cause starvation to marine animals through restricting the movement of food, or by filling the stomach and tricking the animal into thinking it is full. A UNEP 1994 study of the seabed using trawl nets in the North-Western Mediterranean around the coasts of Spain, France and Italy reported mean concentrations of debris of 1,935 items per square kilometer. Marine debris accounted for 77 percent of which 93 percent was plastic bags. Note that this pollution harms an estimated of 100,000 marine animals, including sea turtles, as well as 1,000,000 creatures each year (Sea Turtle Restoration Project. 2010).

Categories of Marine Plastic Pollution

We must highlight that plastic pollution, is known to have two environmental impacts, each with its own subcategories. The direct environmental impacts, which categorize to ingestion, entanglement, ecosystem alteration and the indirect environmental impacts which categorize to ecosystem alteration, transport of invasive species.

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Direct Environmental Impacts

Ingestion Impact

Marine animals often accidentally ingest marine debris that they mistake it with their every day food. Ingesting human waste can serious though damage water life. Whales, turtles sometimes mistake plastic bags with squid for instance and birds frequently misunderstand plastic pellets with fish eggs. A study of 38 green turtles discovered that 61 percent had ingested some for of marine debris such as plastic bags or cloths. (Bugoni et all., 2001).

Toxic substances are contained in some plastics and can lead to death or cause reproductive failure in marine life (Moore, C., 2002). Ingestion of marine debris can cause also to water habitats starvation or malnutrition, when the waste collects in animal's stomach, making the marine organism to fell full. Sometimes starvation happens when marine debris in the animal's system prevents vital nutrients from being absorbed.

Examples of marine debris ingestion: 31 species of marine mammals are known to have ingested marine plastic (Allsopp et al) Over 100 species of sea birds are known to ingest Around 95 percent of Fulmers have plastic in their

plastic debris (Laist, 1997). stomachs that affect them in chemical and mechanical ways according to Dr Jan Andries van Frameker.

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Entanglement Impact

Marine pollution can cause death and injuries to marine life when they become entangled in marine debris. Entanglement is capable of making marine animals to suffer from suffocation, starvation, drowning, increased vulnerability to predators, or other injury. Volunteers participated in the 2008 International Coastal Cleanup event and discovered 443 animals and birds entangled or trapped by marine debris (2008 ICC Report, Ocean Conservancy). Approximately 80 percent plastic marine debris is responsible for the entanglement of large numbers of Antarctic fur seals, on the remote sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia.

Examples of entanglement impact: Over 250 species have been known to have ingested in plastic (Laist, 1997). Sea lions and seals have been discovered with entanglement rates of up to 7.9 percent (Allsopp et al) United Nations Environment Program reports that around 300.000 cetaceans are caught in nets each year (US EPA, 1992).

Ecosystem Alteration

Except mobile animals in oceans and generally in water ecosystems there other organisms also, like plants. As with the mobile animals the immobile living organisms like plants can be harmed too by marine debris. For instance corrals can be damaged by derelict fishing gear which breaks the corral. Plants can be extinguished by fishing nets or

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plastic bags. In general, marine environments and especially ocean floor can be harmed from marine debris.

Indirect Environmental Impacts

Ecosystem Alteration

We have refereed in this research about the mechanical marine debris removal via the Trash Hunter but machine like these can negatively impact shoreline habitats . In this way many marine animals like, nesting birds, sea turtles as well as other forms of aquatic life can be harmed by this removal technique. Coastlines clean up can bring to beaches erosion, even disturbance natural vegetation of nation when the raking is governed near a due. Consequently, efforts to remove marine debris may actually harm the water ecosystems.

Transport of Invasive Species Impact

Invasive species uses marine debris for their movement from one location to another. Basically, they are carried by the floating by the floating debris in order to transport to another place.

As a result of the above, the marine litter in particular plastic increases, resulting in a increase in species invasion (Allsopp et all). Except this man made litter has resulted in a

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significant increase in the opportunities for the transportation of alien species. A widespread problem that leads to the transportation of invasive species is the Biotic Mixing which is a result of human activities (Barnes, 2002). Additionally, a study from the British Antarctic Survey in 2002 estimated that human debris found in the oceans has approximately doubled the number of different species found in the subtropics (Barnes, D.K., 2002).

Non-endemic species can have a catastrophic impact on indigenous species. The nonbiodegradable material pollution and biodiversity increase will accelerate the process of biodiversity (Gregory, 2009).

Specifically, marine plastic pollution has impacted at least 267 species worldwide, including 86 percent of all sea turtle species, 44 percent of all seabird species and 43 percent of all marine mammal species.

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More Dangerous in Ocean Rather Than in Land

Pharmaceuticals, oil spoils, energy consumption, carbon emissions and toxic chemicals are being thrown into the marine environments making them big threat for the human communities.

The US hospitals and long-term facilities flush millions of pounds of pharmaceuticals annually down the drain, according to the Associated Press. As for oil spoils, an estimated 706 million gallons of oil are leaked from ships or wash from land into the ocean every year. Toxic mercury that ends up in marine environments, is being released by the burning of coal for the 50 percent of U.S. energy use. The ocean acidity have seen a 30 percent increase since the Industrial Revolution. This has happened from our carbon emissions where the 50 percent of the carbon dioxide that has been released, have absorbed by the oceans.

Toxic additives used in plastic manufacturing can leach into their surroundings. When exposed to water, these toxic additives used in plastic manufacturing extract into then ocean. That means, that plastic becomes more deadly in the ocean than in the land when waterborne hydrophobic pollutants collect and augment on the surface of the plastic debris. Carnivores can be presumed by the hydrophobic contaminants bioaccumulate, bringing biomagnifying problems to the food chain. Some plastic additives disrupt their endocrine system when consumed; others can suppress their immune system or decrease their reproductive rates. In the ocean ends also, chemicals that have been implicated in cancer, development problems or in other health issues.

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Effects on Human Communities

Plastic debris does not only harms marine life but harms human societies too, in terms of health and in terms of economy, tourism.

Health Impacts

A research of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation, investigated the plastic in the North Pacific Central Gyre of the Pacific Oceanm and showed that the mass of plastic pieces was six times greater than zooplankton floating on the waters surface. Of the 672 fish caught during that voyage, 35% had ingested plastic pieces. The point of these is to show that the plastic we throw to oceans or leave to the beaches and usually get eaten by marine animals, returns to us via our fish food, resulting to polluting the human food chain.

With simple words human health is based upon the health of the marine life. Even for our most basic sustenance, food and water. The seafood we eat due to the plastic debris, ingest to our organism harmful chemicals and have serious developmental implications. As for the water our most basic need, more than 3.5 million people die worldwide from waterrelated diseases. Water transfers aqua diseases and the toxic chemicals, factories use to throw in oceans or in lakes.

Marines debris also endangers the safety of swimmers and divers because they can entangled in abandoned netting and fishing lines. Other than than, people who go for a 19

stroll at the beach can get injured by human waste like glass or cans. If passenger's vessels become entangled in floating marine debris and are damaged or disabled, the wanderer may be injured or killed.

Economical Impacts

Except the harm that marine debris does to marine life and to our health, it can harm three major economical components, tourism, fishing and navigation. So, every year tones of money are being lost due to manmade waste as well as to costly ships maintenance.

Tourism

Beachgoers can be extremely annoyed by marine debris, which can result in loss in tourism. In severe cases though, beaches can be completely closed due to manmade waste. The clean up of the beaches and coastlines from the marine debris can be expensive and lead to ever more loss in tourism's money. The Los Angeles County's Department of Public Works and the Flood Control District spends $18 million each year on street sweeping, catch basin cleanouts, cleanup programs, litter prevention and education efforts, making its attempt in order to keep the beaches clean and prevent the draining of trash to the ocean (L.A. County Boards of Supervisors Staff Report, 2007).

Fishing

When jellyfish or fishes become bycatch in lost fishing gear like nets, commercial fishing 20

companies lose money, because the result of this type of bycatch is available loss in the standing stock of available seafood. Moreover, it this catch helps fish to have negative impacts on their reproductive ability, leading in a decrease the long-term sustainability of the stock. The Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission made a prediction that the blue crab ghost fishery leads to a loss of up to 4 to 10 million crabs a year in Louisiana alone, for instance (Virginia Institute of Marine Science, 2006). Small fisheries can go completely out of business cause of the high cost of replacing fishing gear and vessels, which were entangled or damaged by marine debris.

Navigation

Repairing boats that have been damaged by marine debris is time consuming and expensive. That happens because floating marine debris is a navigational hazard that entangles propellers and clogs cooling water intake valves.

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Prevent the Destruction of Marine Life

As difficult as it seems, there are plenty ways to prevent the destruction of marine ecosystems. Maybe we humans are actually the big threat to marine life but there are always ways to undo this threat and instead become the protectors of aqua environments.

The cleanup of beaches and coastlines should be our usual every day work. We have to participate in local area cleanups. We have to reduce the amount of waste we produce. A clever way to protect the aqua environment is chose reusable items over disposable ones. Last but not least, we should recycle as must as we can. The lack of recycle is a factor of why the plastic debris is everywhere in ocean. In fact only 5 percent of plastics are recycled world-wide. Bottles, cans, ink cartridges, batteries and many other items should be recycled in order to reduce the marine debris.

Assuming we have understood why we should not litter beaches, coastlines and oceans and we have started to recycle, produce less amount of waste etc, we can educate other people about the problem of marine debris. This way more people will become aware of the serious danger that plastic possess over the marine environments.

Here's a quick bulletin view of what we should do in order to protect the marine life: Participate in local area cleanups Produce less amount of waste Chose reusable items over disposable ones Recycle

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Educate other people about the problem of marine debris

Activism

Groups such as Green Peace or 5 Gyres are active in educating about marine debris. The organization 5 Gyres for instance, aims at reducing plastic pollution from oceans and was one of the two organizations that recently researched the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Heal Member who is another nonprofit organization is focusing on the protection of California's Santa Monica Bay, by sponsoring Beach Cleanup programs. Green Peace is also involved in many activism activities about marine debris education. It has involved in many researches about human trash and its effects on marine ecosystems. For example Green Peace has conducted a research about Texass trash vortex. There, an estimated six kilos of plastic for every kilo of natural plankton, along with other slow degrading garbage, swirls slowly around like a clock, choked with dead fish, marine mammals, and birds who get snared. Green Peace. Some plastics in the gyre will not break down in the lifetimes of the grandchildren of the people who threw them away Green Peace indicates.

International Law about Marine Debris

Due to the dangerousness of human waste many governments have laws in order to

prevent its spreading. Ocean dumping specifically is controlled by international law consisting: The 1972 London Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter which is also common known as: The London Convection. "The LC '72" is an United Nations agreement to control ocean dumping. It 23

covers the deliberate disposal at sea of wastes or other matter from vessels, aircraft, and platforms. It does not cover though discharges from land-based waste like pipes and outfalls. The London Convention entered into force in 1975 and as of 2013, 87 parties are included in The LC '72.

Except The London Convection there is another convection designed to protect the seas from ships debris, including oil and exhaust pollution and is considered one of the most important international marine environmental conventions. This other convection is the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution From Ships, 1973 as modified by the Protocol of 1978, known and as MARPOL 73/78.

European Law for Marine Debris

The Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic or OSPAR Convention is the current international treaty controlling marine pollution in the north-east Atlantic Ocean and it combines and up-dates the 1972 Oslo Convention on dumping waste at sea and the 1974 Paris Convention on land-based sources of marine pollution. Besides OSPAR Convection there is also the Barcelona Convection which protects Mediterranean Sea as well as the 2000 Water Framework Directive which is a European Union directive committing European Union member states to free inland and coastal waters from human influence.

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United States Law for Marine Debris

The United States Congress passed the Ocean Dumping Act in 1972 which was gave the authority to the United States Environmental Protection Agency regulate the dumping of the sewer's sludge, industrial and radioactive waste and biohazardous materials into the United States territorial waters. In 1988, sixteen years from the first Ocean Dumping Act, there was a change in order to include clinical wastes. Furthermore it is illegal to dispose any type of plastic in the U.S.A. water environments. In 2007, San Francisco was the first city in the United States to ban petroleum-based plastic bags in large markets and pharmacies.

Other Types of Law for Marine Debris

Certainly there are types of law for human waste around the world. Law of the sea, property law and admiralty law consist when abandoned property is found on oceans. If someone found this abandoned property then he will be reward by the salvage law. All these laws are conducted because ships tend to lose their cargo which in most cases is marine debris, something that can kill marine life. For instance in the United Kingdom, shipwrecked goods should be reported to a Receiver of Wreck and then the goods may return to their rightful owner.

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Methodology
The method that was used for this research was the qualitative. Mainly the data was gathered via online research and in some cases from books. Articles, citations was read and videos on various platforms was watched but the most cross-checked information was used in this research paper was mainly from online sources.

Journalists and researchers have to stay away from the facts and do not take place. Though, if they do take place in some articles or research papers, they should provide the reader or the audience with details and a great amount of elements, just to defend their belief. Nevertheless, in a research paper, the author aims to persuade and explain his thesis to the readers.

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Conclusion
Oceans benefit Earth in climate regulation and human societies in terms of food or medicine production. Plastic debris though, can harm seriously marine animals and cause them even death or injuries. Marine animals use to miscalculate plastics with their food and that cause's them starvation, restrict movement, laceration or suffocation. Pollution from plastic is being divided to two categories, direct environmental impact and indirect environmental impact, where each are divided to its own subcategories. Marine debris except from marine life harms human health also and three important economical areas, tourism, fishing and navigation. Many organizations like Green Peace and governments trying to protect the environments from marine debris. But if we recycle, produce less amount of waste or educate other people about the problem of marine debris, then we would have contributed to the reduction of marine debris from the water ecosystems.

The future does not seem so bright about the reduction of marine debris and that thanks to people who do not consist an ecological consciousness. Maybe the nonprofit organizations try hard to awake the consciousness of citizens but to be honest they never given any signification. As a result, more and more animals will suffer from the manmade waste. Some species will become extinct and to other species their number will be seriously decreased, apart from the affects that the marine debris will have to our planet.

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