Beachgoer:
"Oooooh, are you doing turtle research?"
Me, excitedly:
"No, I'm looking for plastic pieces!"
Beachgoer:
silence - looking dumbfounded
Me,
passionately: "I'm doing this for my Intro to Oceanography project at
Daytona Sate College in order to..."
Beachgoer disappointedly
interrupts: "No, that's ok, I just
thought you were looking for turtle nests; I like turtles..."
Me: looking
dumbfounded and thinking "no, wait, come back, I need to tell you
this..."
I've had
different versions of the above conversation four times so far, two of those
at Fernandina beach which had turned out to be a jackpot for plastic pieces. At
this point you would think I've developed a deep resentment for turtles, but
instead my concern for plastic ignorance has just increased.
Why am I
doing this?
As mentioned
before, I want to find out if FL's east coast has more plastic content than the
west coast, possibly due to plastic pieces being released from the North
Atlantic garbage patch.
 |
| "Average plastic concentration and range of North Atlantic garbage patch" - Jess McNally |
How much
fish is caught between the North Atlantic garbage patch and FL's east coast? -
Concerns:
1. Food Chain - how much plastic that
didn't get washed up on the beach ended up in stomachs of fish, birds, and even
turtles? What if the situation got so dire that the majority of small fish died
due to plastic intake? Large fish eat small fish and humans eat fish of all
sizes, but major concern for the trickle up effect of fish death by plastic may
not arise until it's too late.
 |
| Image from International Pellet Watch |
2. Chemicals
- let's say the fish don't die from plastic intake, but how do the chemicals
transported and exuded by plastic affect marine organisms from the outside and
inside? According to International Pellet Watch, plastic absorbs, transports, and
emanates endocrine disrupting chemicals,
which are hormone disrupting chemicals that can cause cancer and birth defects.
Would you like a touch of cancer causing chemicals with your fish and chips?
Angela--I always look forward to reading your posts. They are always well written and so informative. It is also evident that you are doing a great job of researching the background information dealing with your topic. Great job!!
ReplyDeleteThank you for all the boosts of confidence Dr.. Woodall!
DeleteJust a thought: Why doesn't all plastic have to be recycled? When I see your research and the reality of its effects on nature...it leaves me speechless.
ReplyDeleteIs this an international problem? Does everybody (Countries) dump plastic into the oceans?
Just yesterday I was wondering how all this plastic garbage ends up in the ocean. Something else I need to research. I wanted to try and add some images to this comment about this issue on a global scale but will have to do a blog entry instead, thank you for the idea! According to my mom, in Italy (might only be the area where they were stationed at) they outlawed plastic bags, in Germany you have to purchase plastic bags but most people use recycled cardboard boxes that stores offer (reusing the boxes used to deliver the products in first place), plus according to my mom you get fined if you don't recycle. In my mom's town garbage does not get picked up every week and you get fined for dumping it somewhere else, so you have to do your best at recycling/reusing. Even cat litter goes into special bio hazard bins instead of the regular dump.
DeleteI wish you'd get fined in the U.S. if you didn't recycle!!! AND--I think there are some states or state areas that have banned plastic bags. Believe it or not--there are plastic bag lobbyist hindering this effort :-/
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