Turtle
It is very important that kids and adults alike are careful when removing litter from beaches. Children should always be with their parents or another adult, such as a teacher or camp guide, when participating in a beach clean-up. Many pieces of litter are simply too dangerous to pick up. An adult should deal with it. It is also smart to wear heavy gloves and shoes when cleaning up litter.
What are the sources of beach and marine litter?
- Visitors: the main contributor to beach litter is from the recreational usage of the beach such as picnickers, recreational boating (which also cause oil spills within the marine environment)
- Fishing
- Sewage
- Shipping
- Medical
- Runoff: When it rains, trash on sidewalks and streets that accumulates in the gutter is swept into our city’s storm drain system. Most storm drain systems discharge directly into the ocean. Trash is also carried from inland areas to the ocean by wind, streams, and rivers, is dumped directly in the ocean.
Why is beach and marine litter a problem?
Seagull
Litter impacts the environment is 3 main ways:
1) Impacts on wildlife: marine litter has a major impact on wildlife through entanglement and ingestion. It is estimated that globally over 100,000 marine mammals die every year from entanglement or ingestion of plastics.
- Entanglement: At least 144 species of marine animals are known to have become entangled in marine litter. Entanglement can lead to serious injury and death by starvation, drowning, or suffocation. For example, discarded fishing nets can continue ‘ghost fishing’ — which is catching and killing fish and marine animals well after the nets have been lost or discarded.
- Studies done have shown that about 30,000 northern fur seals die annually due to entanglement.
- Ingestion: Swallowing (ingestion) of marine litter occurs because items can be mistaken for food. This can damage the digestive tract and block the passage of food, leading to starvation and death unless the blockage is removed. The ingestion of marine litter can also result in the absorption of any toxic pollutants that were present on the debris. Whole plastic bags and balloons have been mistakenly identified as food and eaten by some mammal such as turtle and shark species.
- Toxicity: Certain types of plastic are known to adsorb chemicals from their environment, resulting in concentrations much higher than their surroundings. Research has found that the ingestion of plastics and chemicals correlates to impairment of animal immune systems and an increase in death from infections, etc.Chemicals from plastics can be absorbed by micro-algae and thus enter the food chain,
- Tiny plastic fibres in the water can also clog the mouth of small invertebrates and thus lead to death due to starvation.
Trout
2) Impacts on marine ecosystems: marine ecosystems are affected by litter pollution at every level — from tiny microscopic organisms to the very largest animals like whales and turtles. Even the most remote and uninhabited sites are affected by litter blown or brought in on the tide.
- Litter doesn’t stay where it is dropped and can be transported by rivers, tides, currents and winds.
- Litter can affect many places, including beaches and the surface of the sea, and can float within the water column or may settle on and in the seabed.
3) Impacts on communities, health, and economics: Litter not only affects the organisms that live in the sea but every one of us.
- Litter such as glass pieces and syringes can be a health hazard, injuring beach goers.
- Aesthetically unappealing; no one wants to go to a dirty beach.
- Costs a lot of money to dispose and clear it up.
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The clipart on this page is from Clipart ETC, which is a part of the Educational Technology Clearinghouse.
