In Hawaii, debris from the tsunami in Japan from over a year ago is impacting the wildlife and coastline along the islands. Many of the plastic pieces are extremely small and become blended with the beautiful black sands of the beaches. However, other debris is being consumed by sea life, posing a risk to both animals and humans.
Animals Digesting Plastic
Almost every necropsy performed on birds and other animals indicates that they are eating plastic debris in alarming amounts. According to an NBC News report, the necropsies show 100 percent of animals being examined are eating the plastics.
Additionally, even for animals that are not dying with their stomachs full of plastic, the debris is being digested and broken down into dangerous chemicals. This continues throughout the food chain in the ocean. Birds are eating plastic, as are fish, sea lions and other animals. Salmon and tuna are eating smaller fish that are contaminated with plastic chemicals. These are the same fish that many people enjoy throughout the United States.
The Garbage Patch Growing
The garbage patch in the Pacific has been a large environmental problem for numerous years. However, since the tsunami, it has grown alarmingly enormous. While smaller pieces of plastic are now appearing on western beaches of the United States, even larger items are going to begin appearing within the next six months to a year. In Hawaii, the big island is the landing point for much of the debris.
Unfortunately, the debris pile is made of more than just plastics. It also contains items as varied as cars, wharfs, toilets, office furniture, tires, building materials and many other things. As the debris moves through the ocean, animals come into contact with it and they are affected by damaging chemicals as the materials break down.
While there may have been no way to prevent the earthquake and tsunami that occurred in Japan, there were and are ways to prevent the damaging effects from happening again. By being conscious of the impact of chemicals on our environment, we can encourage companies to develop products that will break down safely so that they will not damage wildlife, which, in turn, impact foods that humans eat.
– The Alternative Daily
