In the 19th century, large amounts of coal slag from furnaces were dumped into the sea - known by the large quantities found in the flotsam of northwest European shores during that time (Oceanography and Marine Biology, RN Gibson, RJA Atkinson & JDM Gordon, 2004, CRC Press). Since plastic was invented more than 50 years ago, things have gotten out of control. The Pacific Ocean now has the world's largest rubbish dump floating on its surface. "It is almost like a plastic soup," says Marcus Eriksen, of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation. "It is endless for an area that is maybe twice the size as continental United States." The UN Environment Programme estimated in 2006 that every square mile of ocean contains 46,000 pieces of floating plastic.
Rafting Organisms
Strangely, there are some who are finding a use for it. As transport. "Shipping increased opportunities for marine organism travel mere thousands of years ago but in just decades floating plastic debris is transforming marine rafting," writes marine biologist Dr. David Barnes in "Drifting plastic and its consequences for sessile organism dispersal in the Atlantic Ocean" (Marine Biology, Vol. 146, 4, March, 2005). Historically it is kelp, wood, pumice and volcanic rock that those looking for an easy ride seek out - but plastic is now proving more popular than all of them. Research by Dr Judith Winston (Drift plastic – an expanding niche for a marine invertebrate? Marine Pollution Bulletin, 13, 348–351) found more than 64 species attached to the plastic debris washed ashore in Florida.
Invasive Species
The innate seaworthiness of a plastic vessel means hitchhiking species are more successfully travelling greater distances - which isn't always a good thing. "The impacts to native communities associated with invasive organisms are now recognized as one of the primary threats to global biodiversity," writes Patrick Lewis in "Assisted passage or passive drift" (Antarctic Science 17 (2), 183–191 (2005)). According to the British Antarctic Survey "man-made rubbish in the seas, especially plastics, has almost doubled the spread of alien species in the subtropics and more than tripled it at high latitudes".
Of course, the incredible increase in litter plaguing the oceans also causes other problems such as the risk to wildlife through the ingestion of plastics, destruction to habitats and the chemical pollution associated with degrading plastics. According to the UN Environment Programme, plastic debris causes the deaths of more than a million seabirds every year, as well as more than 100,000 marine mammals. With many plastics taking approximately 450 years to degrade, it is a little late for mankind to only now be realizing just how wasteful its existence is.
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