We all know the ocean is polluted. I don’t like to bombard anyone with constant reminders. After a while people get tired of hearing it. Then you get labeled a fanatic and no one will listen to anything you say after that.
But if you enjoy the ocean, the gulf, the sea, this is a video you need to see. It’s a 10 minute intro with Captain Charles Moore revealing the extent of plastic contamination of the oceans.
The bottom line is that plastics, from tiny 1 millimeter pieces to bottles and suitcases and toys, are filling our oceans at such a rapid rate that it is alarming. Truly alarming. I had no idea. Go ahead. Watch the video.
I DOUBLE DOG DARE YOU TO WATCH THE WHOLE THING!
Need a little motivation? How about a photo of what plastic bottle caps and cigarette lighters are doing to our ocean-going birds who eat them and cannot digest and eliminate them?
A decomposing sea bird carcass reveals a stomach full of plastic. Photo from www.algalita.org
I first learned about plastics in the ocean from Dr. Curtis Ebbesmeyer at the International Sea-bean Symposium in Cocoa Beach back in October. He told of the problem of the Albatross chicks ingesting plastics before they are old enough to regurgitate the foreign matter. Their stomachs fill up with plastic and they die.
Find out more about Captain Charles Moore’s work at the Algalita Marine Research Foundation website, from which I took the image of the plastic-filled bird above.
