W1S1: Homework - Shelby's Research

In wellington:

• 42,314 - Event participants
• 127,598 - Presentation views
• 1,061,180 - Litres of rubbish
• 23,494 - Trees planted

The numbers show how many of the worst offending products that have been picked-up at events to date. The most common items found on the beach are....

• 205,793 - Plastic of unknown origin
• 160,186 - Food wrappers
• 91,943 - Bottle caps and lids
• 91,215 - Plastic bags
• 84,510 - Polystyrene / foam

http://sustainablecoastlines.org/

The ocean sustains us with the basic elements of life—it produces half of the oxygen in the air we breathe, and it is an essential part of the water cycle, helping to provide the water we drink.

The world’s beaches, the frontier of this essential resource, support ocean health. They provide habitat and nesting grounds for important ocean wildlife like sea turtles and sea birds, and they attract vacationers from around the world, helping to sustain complex coastal economies.

Whether we live on a beach or hundreds of miles from the coastline, we all have a profound stake in an ocean that is healthy and abundant.
Trash Free Seas

Ocean trash ranks as one of the most serious pollution problems of our time. Much more than an eyesore, trash in the water and on the shore affects the health of people, wildlife and economies. For example, trash in the water:

• injures swimmers and beachgoers;
• harms wildlife that eats it or get trapped in its mess;
• drives away tourists—and their wallets; and
• ensnares boat propellers, a costly navigation hazard.

The good news is we can prevent trashed beaches and debris-filled water. Ocean Conservancy has a vision of trash free seas, and we’ve been leading the way for more than 25 years.

Ocean Conservancy is creating a world of trash free seas by:

• Organizing and executing the International Coastal Cleanup®, the world’s largest volunteer effort to clean up our beaches and waterways, with partners around the globe.
• Publicizing data that help the public and the global science community better understand the problem of ocean trash.
• Creating innovative solutions to the ocean trash issue with leaders from the private, public and academic sectors.
• Building a movement to help inspire all of us to stop trash before it starts and live cleaner, healthier lives.

http://www.oceanconservancy.org/

Take a stroll along any beach after a storm and you will get an idea of just how much litter is floating around in the world’s oceans: the sand is strewn with plastic bottles, fish boxes, light bulbs, flip-flops, scraps of fishing net and timber. The scene is the same the world over, for the seas are full of garbage. The statistics are alarming: the National Academy of Sciences in the USA estimated in 1997 that around 6.4 million tonnes of litter enter the world’s oceans each year. However, it is difficult to arrive at an accurate estimate of the amount of garbage in the oceans because it is constantly moving, making it almost impossible to quantify.

A further complicating factor is that the litter enters the marine environment by many different pathways. By far the majority originates from land-based sources. Some of it is sewage-related debris that is washed down rivers into the sea, or wind-blown waste from refuse dumps located on the coast, but some of it comes from careless beach visitors who leave their litter lying on the sand.
Shipping also contributes to the littering of the oceans: this includes waste from commercial vessels and leisures that is deliberately dumped or accidentally lost overboard and, above all, torn fishing nets. As most of the litter is plastic, which breaks down very slowly in water and may persist for decades or even centuries, the amount of debris in the marine environment is constantly increasing.

The problem does not only affect the coastal areas, however. Propelled by the wind and ocean currents, the litter – which is highly persistent in the environment – travels very long distances and has become widely dispersed throughout the oceans. It can now even be found on remote beaches and uninhabited islands.

The litter circulates constantly, with new debris being added all the time. Environmental researchers call it the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

Much of the litter is harmless, but some of it is responsible for marine mammal deaths. Seals and otters, for example, which feed on fish, crabs and sea urchins on the sea floor, are frequent casualties.

Derelict fishing gear – known as “ghost nets” – poses a particular threat to marine wildlife. These are nets which have torn away and been lost during fishing activities, or old and damaged nets that have been deliberately discarded overboard. The nets can remain adrift in the sea and continue to function for years. They pose a threat to fish, turtles, dolphins and other creatures, which can become trapped in the nets and die.

The main impacts on people include:

• risks to human health, including the threat of injury from broken glass, syringes from stranded medical waste, etc., or from exposure to chemicals;
• rising costs of clearing stranded debris from beaches, harbours and stretches of sea, together with the ongoing costs of operating adequate disposal facilities;
• deterrent effect on tourists, especially if sections of coastline are notoriously polluted. This results in loss of revenue from tourism;
• damage to ships, such as dented hulls and broken anchors and propellers from fouling by floating netting or fishing line;
• fishery losses: torn nets, polluted traps and contaminated catches; if nets become choked with debris, the catch may be reduced;
• adverse effects on near-coastal farming: numerous items of plastic waste and other forms of wind-borne marine debris may be strewn across fields and caught on fences; livestock may be poisoned if they ingest scraps of plastic or plastic bags.

http://worldoceanreview.com/