Effects of Plastic Waste

Pollution on Marine
Life

Plastic is a synthetic organic polymer made from petroleum with properties ideally
suited for a wide variety of applications, including packaging, building and construction,
household and sports equipment, vehicles, electronics and agriculture. Plastic is cheap,
lightweight, strong and malleable. Over 300 million tons of plastic are produced every year, half
of which is used to design single-use items such as shopping bags, cups and straws.

At least 8 million tons of plastic end up in our oceans every year. Floating plastic
debris are currently the most abundant items of marine litter. Waste plastic makes up 80% of all
marine debris from surface waters to deep-sea sediments. Plastic has been detected on shorelines
of all the continents, with more plastic materials found near popular tourist destinations and
densely populated areas.

The main sources of marine plastic are land-based, from urban and storm runoff,
sewer overflows, beach visitors, inadequate waste disposal and management, industrial activities,
construction and illegal dumping. Ocean-based plastic originates mainly from the fishing
industry, nautical activities and aquaculture.
Impacts and Effects on marine life

The most visible and disturbing impacts of marine plastics are the ingestion,
suffocation and entanglement of hundreds of marine species. Marine wildlife such as seabirds,
whales, fishes and turtles, mistake plastic waste for prey, and most die of starvation as their
stomachs are filled with plastic debris. Disturbing effects on marine life includes suffering from
lacerations, infections, reduced ability to swim, and internal injuries. Floating plastics also
contribute to the spread of invasive marine organisms and bacteria, which disrupt ecosystems.

Thousands of animals, from sea lions to blue whales, die grisly deaths due to effects
from eating and getting caught in plastic.

Fish in the North Pacific ingest 12,000 to 24,000 tons of plastic each year, which can
cause intestinal injury and death and transfers plastic up the food chain to bigger fish, marine
mammals and human seafood eaters. A recent study found that a quarter of fish at markets in
California contained plastic in their guts, mostly in the form of plastic microfibers.
 Sea turtles can mistake floating plastic garbage for food. They can choke, sustain
internal injury and die — or starve by thinking they’re full from eating plastic. Tragically,
research indicates that half of sea turtles worldwide have ingested plastic. New studies find
plastic pollution is so pervasive on many beaches that its affecting their reproduction.
Hundreds of thousands of seabirds ingest plastic every year. Plastic ingestion reduces
the storage volume of the stomach, causing starvation. It’s estimated that 60 percent of all
seabird species have eaten pieces of plastic, with that number predicted to increase to 99 percent
by 2050. Dead seabirds are often found with stomachs full of plastic, reflecting how the amount
of garbage in our oceans has rapidly increased in the past 40 years.

Marine mammals ingest, and get tangled up in, plastic. Large amounts of plastic
debris have been found in the habitat of critically endangered Hawaiian monk seals, including in
areas that serve as pup nurseries. Entanglement in plastic debris has also led to injury and
mortality in the endangered Steller sea lion, with packing bands the most common entangling
material. Dead whales have been found with bellies full of plastic.