Pascal Fletcher, PlanetArk 11 Mar 09;
MIAMI - A tidal wave of man-made trash is threatening world oceans, damaging wildlife, tourism and seafood industries and piling additional stress on seas already hit by climate change, conservationists said on Tuesday.
A report by U.S.-based Ocean Conservancy detailed what it called a "global snapshot of marine debris" based on itemized records of rubbish collected by nearly 400,000 volunteers in 104 countries and places in a single day in September 2008.
Close to 7 million pounds (3.2 million kg) of trash -- the weight of 18 blue whales -- was collected from oceans, lakes, rivers and waterways in the 2008 cleanup, the group said in its report "A Rising Tide of Ocean Debris and What We Can Do About It".
It warned of a "tidal wave of ocean debris," calling it a major pollution problem of the 21st century.
Topping the list of the 11.4 million items of trash collected were cigarette butts, plastic bags, and food wrappers and containers. In the Philippines alone, 11,077 diapers were picked up and 19,504 fishing nets were recovered in Britain.
"Our ocean is sick, and our actions have made it so," Vikki Spruill, president and chief executive of Ocean Conservancy, said in a statement accompanying the report.
"We simply cannot continue to put our trash in the ocean. The evidence turns up every day in dead and injured marine life, littered beaches that discourage tourists, and choked ocean ecosystems," she said.
"By changing behaviors and policies, individuals, companies, and governments can help improve the health of our ocean, the Earth's life support system."
The full report, including a country-by-country Marine Debris Index, was published at www.oceanconservancy.org.
ANIMALS KILLED, TOURISM HURT
Detailing how refuse poisoned oceans and waterways, the report said the waste entered the food chain, injured beachgoers and weakened economies by sapping precious dollars from tourism and seafood industries.
Thousands of animals, including marine mammals, sea turtles, seabirds and others, choked or were poisoned each year by eating trash, or drowned when they became entangled in bags, ropes and old fishing gear.
The 2008 cleanup volunteers found 443 animals entangled or trapped by marine debris, releasing 268 alive.
"Keeping our ocean free of trash is one of the easiest ways we can help improve the ocean's resilience as it tries to adapt to the harmful effects of climate change such as melting ice, rising sea levels, and changing ocean chemistry," Ocean Conservancy said.
It recommended public and private partnerships to monitor and reduce marine trash and increased funding for research on the problem. A policy of "reduce, reuse, recycle" would help lower trash levels, combined with technological solutions.
"Trash doesn't fall from the sky, it falls from our hands," Spruill said. "Humans have created the problem of marine debris, and humans should step up and solve it."
Ocean Conservancy said its next International Coastal Cleanup would be held around the world on September 19.
(Editing by Jim Loney and John O'Callaghan)
7M pounds of debris collected in world's waterways
Brian Skoloff, Associated Press Yahoo News 10 Mar 09;
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Nearly seven million pounds of debris was collected from waterways and shorelines around the world during a single day last year, illustrating that careless people are discarding trash just about everywhere, with much of it eventually finding an aquatic home, according to a report released Tuesday.
Nearly 400,000 volunteers scoured about 17,000 miles of coastline, river bottoms and ocean floors during the Ocean Conservancy's 23rd International Coastal Cleanup in September.
The group's report said more than 3.2 million cigarette butts were picked up during last year's efforts, making the items the most common found. That's followed by about 1.4 million plastic bags, 942,000 food wrappers and containers, and 937,000 caps and lids. Volunteers also collected 26,585 tires, enough for 6,646 cars — and a spare.
Of the 104 participating countries, the U.S. supplied about half the volunteers.
Volunteers collected about 11.4 million items overall, which weighed a total of 6.8 million pounds. They snagged more than 1.3 million cigarette butts in the U.S. alone, about 19,500 fishing nets in the United Kingdom and more than 11,000 diapers in the Philippines.
"Our ocean is sick, and our actions have made it so," said Vikki Spruill, the Ocean Conservancy's president and CEO. "The evidence turns up every day in dead and injured marine life, littered beaches that discourage tourists, and choked ocean ecosystems."
The group said thousands of marine mammals, sea turtles and birds are injured or killed by ocean trash every year. During the event, participants found 268 marine animals that survived being entangled in debris. But 175 weren't so lucky and died — a seal wrapped in fishing line near Santa Cruz, Calif.; a juvenile hammerhead shark entangled in fishing line near St. Augustine, Fla.; a sea turtle tangled in rope in the west African nation of Ghana; and a penguin entangled in wire in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The majority of trash, the report said, comes from land-based activities, such as discarding of fast food wrappers during beach picnics.
"Your trash may make it to the beach before you do this year," the report said, adding that a wrapper or cigarette butt discarded on an inland city street can quickly wash down storm drains into rivers and eventually flow out to the ocean.
The next cleanup is set for Sept. 19.
More links
On the Ocean Conservancy website: More tips on how you CAN make a difference.
Also A Rising Tide of Ocean Debris and What We Can Do About It, the full report with Marine Debris Index, the world's only country-by-country, state-by-state analysis of trash in our ocean, lakes, rivers, and streams as well as recommendations for what we can to do prevent it.
To join the Singapore effort in this, see International Coastal Cleanup Singapore
