The impact of marine debris

Marine Debris

-Courtesy to Conservation Science Institute; Altered Ocean; Blue Planet Society

"The United Nations has turned its attention to the oceans for World Environment Day, and one of the main evildoers is a familiar one - plastic.

Marine trash, mainly plastic, is killing morethan a million seabirds and 100,000 mammalsand sea turtles each year.”

- Kofi Annan,Secretary-General, United Nations, 2004

Plastic Trash Vortex

There are actually 46,000 pieces of plastic litter floating in every square mile of ocean.

- UNEP

Inside the North Pacific Gyre, there is a massive accumulation of plastic garbage known as “Plastic Soup”, “The Great Pacific Garbage Patch”, or “The Pacific Trash Vortex”.

About 20 percent of the plastic in the oceans comes from ships or offshore platforms; the rest is blown or washed off the land.

- Courtesy to Michael Graham Richard, Gatineau, Canada

Ingestion of plasticsIngestion of plastics

Albatross chick - gut

full of plastic!

Albatross chick - gut

full of plastic!

- 90% of albatross chicks on Midway Island in the Pacific Ocean had plastic in their throats

What an albatross ateWhat an albatross ate

Dead Turtle found in Australia, with guts choked with marine trash

Entanglement of Entanglement of marine animalsmarine animals

-Courtesy to UNEP

In 2007, ICC participants found 237237 entangled animals.

The percentage of each type of animal entangled : • Birds ~ 35 percent • Fish ~ 27 percent • Invertebrates ~ 20 percent • Mammals ~ 13 percent • Reptiles ~ 5 percent • Amphibians ~ < 1 percent

Badly entangled flukes of a humpback whale

– United States

A young Grey Seal entangled in a scrap of trawl net. 

- Sable Island, Canada

Freeing Horseshoe crabs from gill nets at

- Mandai, Singapore

Crabs entangled by fishing nets at

- Lazarus Island, Singapore

The abrasion from movement of the nets injure/kill the polyps. And injured parts of corals get overgrown with algae/other organisms very fast. – Lazarus Island, Singapore

By not littering and picking up litter you see, you may be saving the life of a marine mammal.

Be aware of the packaging on products you purchase; opt for products with less packaging.

Prevent litter!Prevent litter!

Packaging awareness!Packaging awareness!