I went on the internet wanting to find out roughly just how much plastic there is in the ocean to gauge what sort of a problem we have globally & whether it would be possible to tackle the problem or ind some sort of solution. This is the answer I found & I was completely speechless & sadden to just get my head around the figures!
In a study recently done there is estimated to be about 5250 billion floating pieces of plastic in the ocean, with a combined weight of 268 940 tonnes. (http://www.popsci.com/five-trillion-pieces-plastic-are-floating-ocean-near-you-3)
So as a result, I could not resist sharing this image & story illustrating just how deadly plastic is for our environment, ecosystem & animals both marine & terrestrial.
I was sadden to hear of this Orca’s death espicially since it washed up a few days prior and NSRI & various other people had successfully managed to get it back & swimming in the water again, after many hours of hard work & several attempts of it trying to strand itself again. It was then seen on Sunday morning swimming along the coastline. Everyone celebrated as it looked like all who were involved had done a great job & the story ended happily. However this was short lived, this Orca was found dead on Monday morning.
“After we went through the stomach contents of the Orca that stranded in Plettenberg Bay on Monday morning, 14 December 2015. Very alarming to see the amount of plastic we found. Other than plastic, she had consumed a few big clumps of sea grass and about 400g of what looks like some sort of simple tubed organism (sea cucumber or anemone fingers). Only 2 pairs of squid beaks and those were very old so she hadn’t fed properly for a long time. 5.7m female, no other obvious injuries, infections or obstructions. Huge thanks to the Plett Stranding Network, NSRI and Bitou Municipality for co-coordinating this massive operation” – Gwen Penry
I really hope we can all take something from this story & be a bit more aware of our plastic consumption as well as trying to not litter and leave plastic stuff lying around to just blow away in the breeze. With summer here, I am seeing more people flocking to the beaches, while enjoying themselves they also tend to leave a lot of trash behind thinking “someone” else will sort it out & pick up after them. Unfortunately this is not always the case & most often it lands up in the sea, causing harm to all life involved.
Fi 🙂
360 exposure 