Marine debris
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2008-07-15T11:12:10Z
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[[Image:Marine debris on Hawaiian coast.jpg|thumb|300px|Marine debris on the [[Hawaii]]an coast]]
'''Marine debris''', also known as '''marine litter''', is human-created [[waste]] that has deliberately or accidentally become afloat in a [[lake]], [[sea]], [[ocean]] or [[waterway]]. Oceanic debris tends to accumulate at the centre of [[gyre]]s and on [[coast]]lines,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cnn.com/TECH/science/9807/28/toxic.seabirds/ |title=Pollution invades small Pacific island |accessdate=2008-04-01 |date=[[28 July]] [[1998]] |author=Gary Strieker |publisher=CNN }}</ref> frequently washing aground where it is known as '''beach litter'''.
Some forms of marine debris, such as harmless [[driftwood]], occur naturally, and human activities have been adding similar material into the oceans for thousands of years. Only recently, however, with the advent of [[plastic]], has human influence become an issue as many types of plastics do not [[biodegradation|biodegrade]].
Waterborne plastic is both unsightly and dangerous; posing a serious threat to [[fish]], [[seabird]]s, [[marine reptile]]s, and [[marine mammal]]s, as well as to boats and coastal habitations.<ref name=Facts>{{cite web |url=http://marinedebris.noaa.gov/marinedebris101/md101facts.html |title=Facts about marine debris |accessdate=2008-04-10 |publisher=US NOAA }}</ref> Ocean dumping, accidental container spillages, and wind-blown landfill waste are all contributing to this growing problem.
==Types of debris==
[[Image:Flostam tern island.JPG|thumb|350px|Debris collected on beaches on Tern Island in the [[French Frigate Shoals]] over one month]]
A wide variety of [[anthropogenic]] artefacts can become marine debris; [[plastic bag]]s, [[buoy]]s, [[rope]], [[medical waste]], [[glass bottles]] and [[plastic bottles]], [[cigarette lighter]]s, [[beverage can]]s, [[styrofoam]], [[ghost net|lost fishing line and nets]], and various wastes from [[cruise ship pollution|cruise ships]] and [[oil rig]]s are among those items commonly found to have washed ashore. [[Six pack rings]], in particular, are considered a [[poster child]] of the damage that garbage can do to the marine environment.
Eighty percent of all known debris is plastic - a component that has been rapidly accumulating since the end of World War II.<ref name=Weisman>{{cite book |author=Alan Weisman |title=The World Without Us |year=2007 |publisher=St. Martin's Thomas Dunne Books |isbn=0312347294 }}</ref> Plastics accumulate because they don't [[biodegradation|biodegrade]] as many other substances do; while they will [[photodegradation|photodegrade]] on exposure to the sun, they do so only under dry conditions, as [[water (molecule)|water]] inhibits this process.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/270/ |title=Polymers Are Forever |accessdate=2008-07-01 |date=Summer 2007 |author=Alan Weisman |publisher=Orion magazine }}</ref>
===Nurdles===
[[Nurdle]]s, also known as mermaids' tears, are a plastic pellets typically under five millimetres in diameter, and are a major contributor to marine debris. They are used as a raw material in plastics manufacturing, and are thought to enter the [[natural environment]] after accidental spillages. Mermaids' tears are also created through the [[physical weathering]] of larger plastic debris. Nurdles strongly resemble [[fish eggs]], only instead of finding a nutritious meal, any marine wildlife that ingests them will likely starve, be poisoned and die.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6218698.stm |title=Plastics 'poisoning world's seas' |accessdate=2008-04-01 |date=[[7 December]] [[2006]] |publisher=BBC News }}</ref>
==Source of debris==
[[Image:Friendly Floatees.png|thumb|left|Travel of the [[Friendly Floatees]]]]
It has been estimated that [[container ship]]s lose over 10,000 [[Containerization|containers]] at sea each year (usually during a storm).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/06/0619_seacargo.html |title=Lost Sea Cargo: Beach Bounty or Junk? |accessdate=2008-04-08 |date=[[19 June]] [[2001]] |author=Janice Podsada |publisher=National Geographic News}}</ref> One famous spillage occurred in the [[Pacific Ocean]] in 1992, when thousands of [[Friendly Floatees|rubber ducks and other toys]] went overboard during a storm. The toys have since been found all over the world; [[Curtis Ebbesmeyer]] and other scientists have used the incident to gain a better understanding of [[ocean current]]s. Similar incidents have happened, with the same potential to track currents, such as when [[Hansa Carrier]] dropped 21 containers (with one notably containing buoyant Nike shoes).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/science/05/28/coolsc.oceansecrets/index.html |title=How sneakers, toys and hockey gear help ocean science |accessdate=2008-04-08 |date=[[28 May]] [[2003]] |author=Marsha Walton |publisher=CNN }}</ref> In 2006, thousands of bags of [[Doritos]] chips washed up on the beach at [[Frisco, North Carolina]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=115304&ran=44455 |title=Their chips have come in |accessdate = 2006-12-01 |author=Catherine Kozak |publisher=The Virginian-Pilot |date=[[1 December]] [[2006]] }}</ref> In 2007, [[MSC Napoli]] was beached in the [[English Channel]], and dropped hundreds of containers, most of which washed up on the [[Devon]] coastline.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/6287457.stm |title=Scavengers take washed-up goods |accessdate=2008-04-08 |date=[[22 January]] [[2007]] |publisher=BBC News }}</ref>
Though it was originally assumed that most oceanic marine waste stemmed directly from ocean dumping, it is now thought that around four fifths<ref name=Algalita>{{cite web |url=http://www.algalita.org/pdf/PLASTIC%20DEBRIS%20ENGLISH.pdf |title=Plastic Debris: from Rivers to Sea |accessdate=2008-05-29 |publisher=Algalita Marine Research Foundation |format=PDF}}</ref> of the oceanic debris is from rubbish blown seaward from [[landfill]]s, and washed seaward by [[storm drain]]s.<ref name=Facts /> An example of this would be the 1987 [[Syringe Tide]], whereby medical wastes washed ashore in New Jersey, after having blown from the [[Fresh Kills Landfill]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DEFD81439F93BA35751C1A961948260 |title=New York City to Pay Jersey Town $1 Million Over Shore Pollution |accessdate=2008-06-25 |date=[[8 December]] [[1987]] |author=Alfonso Narvaez |publisher=The New York Times }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://library.marist.edu/diglib/EnvSci/archives/hudsmgmt/ny-njharborestuaryprogram/debris.html |title=A Summary of the Proposed Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan |accessdate=2008-06-25 |date=February 1995 |publisher=New York-New Jersey Harbor Estuary Program }}</ref>
==Legality of ocean and river dumping==
Ocean dumping is the deliberate disposal of wastes at sea, a practice controlled by law.
*[[Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter|The London Convention]] (1972) – a [[United Nations]] agreement to control ocean dumping<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.epa.gov/owow/ocpd/icnetbri.html |title=London Convention |accessdate=2008-05-29 |publisher=US EPA }}</ref>
*[[MARPOL 73/78]] – an international convention designed to minimise pollution of the seas, including dumping, oil and exhaust pollution<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.imo.org/Conventions/mainframe.asp?topic_id=258&doc_id=678 |title=International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as modified by the Protocol of 1978 relating thereto (MARPOL 73/78) |accessdate=2008-05-29 |publisher=International Maritime Organization }}</ref>
===Law of Europe===
In 1972 and 1942, conventions were held in [[Oslo]] and [[Paris]], respectively, resulting in the passing of the [[Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic|OSPAR Convention]], an international treaty controlling marine pollution in the north-east [[Atlantic Ocean]] around Europe.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ospar.org/eng/html/welcome.html |title=The OSPAR Convention |accessdate=2008-05-29 |publisher=OSPAR Commission }}</ref> The [[Water Framework Directive]] of 2000 is an [[Directive (European Union)|EU directive]] committing [[Member State of the European Union|EU member states]] to make their inland and coastal waters free from human influence.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32000L0060:EN:HTML| title=Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy |accessdate=2008-05-29 |publisher=EurLex }}</ref> In the United Kingdom, the proposed [[Marine Bill]] is designed to "ensure clean healthy, safe, productive and biologically diverse oceans and seas, by putting in place better systems for delivering sustainable development of marine and coastal environment."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.defra.gov.uk/marine/legislation/index.htm | title=Marine Bill |accessdate=2008-07-29 |publisher=UK Defra }}</ref>
===Law of the United States===
[[Image:No Dumping Drains to Stream by David Shankbone.jpg|thumb|A spray-painted sign above a sewer in [[Colorado Springs, Colorado|Colorado Springs]] warning people to not pollute the local stream by [[Environmental dumping|dumping]].]]
*[[Ocean Dumping Act]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.epa.gov/history/topics/mprsa/01.htm |title= Administering the Ocean Dumping Act |accessdate=2008-05-29 |date=July/August 1975 |publisher=US EPA }}</ref> (1972), amended by the [[Ocean Dumping Ban Act]] (1988)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.epa.gov/history/topics/mprsa/02.htm |title= Ocean Dumping Ban Act of 1988 |accessdate=2008-05-29 |date=[[21 November]] [[1988]] |publisher=US EPA }}</ref>
*[[Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act]] (1972)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://epw.senate.gov/mprsa72.pdf |title=Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 |accessdate=2008-05-29 |date=[[29 December]] [[2000]] |publisher=US Senate |format=PDF}}</ref>
In the [[United States]], the [[Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health Act|BEACH Act]] of 2000<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/beaches/files/beachbill.pdf |title=Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health Act of 2000 |accessdate=2008-05-29 |date=[[10 October]] [[2000]] |publisher=US EPA |format=PDF}}</ref> was enacted to help reduce the risk of diseases for users of water from the American coastline and [[Great Lakes]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/beaches/rules/act.html |title=Beach Act; Beach Monitoring & Notification |accessdate=2008-04-01 |publisher=US EPA }}</ref> The act authorizes the [[United States Environmental Protection Agency|EPA]] to award program development and implementation grants to eligible states, territories, tribes, and local governments to support microbiological testing and monitoring of coastal recreational waters that are adjacent to beaches or similar points of access used by the public. Currently, the [[California State Legislature|California Legislature]] is considering a host of [[Bill (proposed law)|bills]] designed to reduce the sources of marine debris, following the recommendations of the California Ocean Protection Council.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cawrecycles.org/issues/marine_debris |title=Stopping the Rising Tide of Marine Debris Pollution |accessdate=2008-04-01 |publisher=Californians Against Waste }}</ref>
===Ownership of debris===
[[Lost, mislaid, and abandoned property]] can be of consequence within [[property law]], [[admiralty law]], and the [[United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea|law of the sea]]. [[Marine salvage|Salvage law]] has as a basis that a salvor should be rewarded for risking his life and property to rescue the property of another from peril. On land the distinction between deliberate and accidental loss led to the concept of a '[[treasure trove]]'. In the [[United Kingdom]], shipwrecked goods should be reported to a [[Receiver of Wreck]], and if identifiable, they should be returned to their rightful owner.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6287047.stm |title=Can you keep ship-wrecked goods? |accessdate=2008-05-29 |date=[[22 January]] [[2007]] |publisher=BBC News }}</ref>
==The Great Pacific Garbage Patch==
[[Image:North Pacific Gyre.png|thumb|The currents of the North Pacific Gyre spiral inwards]]
Once waterbourne, debris is far from immobile. Flotsam can be blown by the wind, and follows the flow of [[ocean current]]s, often ending up in the middle of [[oceanic gyre]]s where currents are weakest. The [[Great Pacific Garbage Patch]] is one such example of this, comprising of a vast region of the North [[Pacific Ocean]] rich with anthropogenic wastes. Conservative estimates of its size compare it to [[Texas]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/oceans/pollution/trash-vortex |title=The trash vortex |accessdate=2008-05-29 |publisher=Greenpeace }}</ref> whereas some reckon it closer to the size of [[Africa]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Ocean/Pacific-Garbage-Patch27oct02.htm |title=Great Pacific Garbage Patch |author=Charles Moore |date=[[2002-10-02]] |publisher=Santa Barbara News-Press }}</ref> The mass of plastic in our oceans may be as high as one hundred million [[tonne]]s.<ref name=Algalita/>
Should any [[island]]s be unlucky enough to lie within a gyre, their [[coast]]lines will likely be ruined by the waste that inevitably washes ashore. Prime examples of this are [[Midway Atoll|Midway]]<ref name=midway>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7314240.stm |title=New 'battle of Midway' over plastic |accessdate=2008-04-01 |date=[[26 March]] [[2008]] |publisher=BBC News }}</ref> and [[Hawaii]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6740161.stm |title=Plastic blights Hawaii's beaches |accessdate=2008-04-01 |date=[[11 June]] [[2007]] |publisher=BBC News }}</ref> Clean-up teams around the world patrol beaches to clean up this environmental threat.<ref name=midway />
==Environmental impact==
[[Image:Laysan albatross chick remains.jpg|thumb|left|Remains of an [[Laysan Albatross|albatross]] containing ingested flotsam]]
Many animals that live on or in the sea [[feeding|consume]] flotsam by mistake, as it often looks similar to their natural prey.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pulitzer.org/year/2007/explanatory-reporting/works/oceans04.html |title=Plague of Plastic Chokes the Seas |accessdate=2008-04-01 |date=[[2 August]] [[2006]] |author=Kenneth R. Weiss |publisher=Los Angeles Times }}</ref> Plastic debris, when bulky or tangled, is difficult to pass, and may become permanently lodged in the digestive tracts of these animals, blocking the passage of food and causing death through starvation or infection.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.naturalhistorymag.com/1103/1103_feature.html |title=Across the Pacific Ocean, plastics, plastics, everywhere. |accessdate=2008-04-05 |date=November 2003 |author=Charles Moore |publisher=Natural History }}</ref> Tiny floating particles also resemble [[zooplankton]], which can lead [[filter feeders]] to consume them and cause them to enter the ocean [[food chain]]. In samples taken from the [[North Pacific Gyre]] in 1999 by the Algalita Marine Research Foundation, the mass of plastic exceeded that of zooplankton by a factor of six.<ref name=Weisman/><ref name=AlgalitaVid>{{cite web |url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVwuPSLx2Xc |title=Plastics and Marine Debris |accessdate=2008-07-01 |date=2006 |publisher=Algalita Marine Research Foundation }}</ref> More recently, reports have surfaced that there may now be 30 times more plastic than plankton, the most abundant form of life in the ocean.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://nonurdles.com/?page_id=23 |title=Learn |accessdate=2008-04-05 |publisher=NoNurdles.com }}</ref>
[[Image:Turtle entangled in marine debris (ghost net).jpg|thumb|A [[green turtle|turtle]] trapped in a [[ghost net]], an abandoned fishing net]]
Toxic additives used in the manufacture of plastic materials can [[wikt:leech|leech]] out into their surroundings when exposed to water. Waterborne [[hydrophobic]] pollutants [[adsorbtion|collect and magnify on the surface]] of plastic debris,<ref name=Algalita /> thus making plastic far more deadly in the ocean than it would be on land.<ref name=Weisman /> Hydrophobic contaminants are also known to [[bioaccumulate]] in fatty tissues, [[biomagnification|biomagnifying]] up the food chain and putting great pressure on [[apex predator]]s. Some plastic additives are known to disrupt the [[endocrine system]] when consumed, others can suppress the immune system or decrease reproductive rates.<ref name=AlgalitaVid />
[[Ghost net]]s are fishing nets that have been left or lost in the ocean by fishermen. They can entangle [[fish]], [[dolphin]]s, [[sea turtle]]s, [[shark]]s, [[dugong]]s, [[crocodile]]s, [[seabird]]s, [[crab]]s, and other creatures. Acting as designed, these nets restrict movement, causing starvation, laceration and infection, and—in those that need to return to the surface to breath—suffocation.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/6248366.stm |title='Ghost fishing' killing seabirds |accessdate=2008-04-01 |date=[[28 June]] [[2007]] |publisher=BBC News }}</ref>
However, not all [[anthropogenic]] artefacts in the oceans do harm. Iron and concrete do little damage to the environment as they are generally immobile; in fact, they can even be used as scaffolding for the creation of [[artificial reef]]s, increasing the [[biodiversity]] of a coastal region. Entire ships have been deliberately sunk in coastal waters with that purpose in mind.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://192.5.14.110/pubs/monograph_reports/MR1377/MR1377.ch5.pdf |work=Disposal Options for Ships |title=Chapter 5: Reefing |accessdate=2008-05-03 |date=[[2 August]] [[2006]] |coauthors=Ron Hess, Denis Rushworth, Michael Hynes, John Peters |publisher=Rand Corporation |format=PDF}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist|2}}
==External links==
{{commonscat}}
* [http://marinedebris.noaa.gov/ NOAA Marine Debris Program] – US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
* [http://www.epa.gov/OWOW/oceans/debris/ Marine Debris Abatement] – US Environmental Protection Agency
* [http://www.algalita.org/ Marine Research, Education and Restoration] – Algalita Marine Research Foundation
* [http://www.adoptabeach.org.uk/pages/page.php?cust_id=7 Beach Litter] – UK Marine Conservation Society
* [http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/publications/marine-debris.html Harmful Marine Debris] – Australian Government
* [http://oceans.greenpeace.org/en/our-oceans/pollution/trash-vortex The trash vortex] – Greenpeace
* [http://www.highseasghost.net/index_new.html High Seas GhostNet Survey] – US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
* [http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/04/070423-ocean-plastic.html Ocean Debris: Habitat for Some, Havoc for Environment, Experts Say] – National Geographic
* [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/07/31/eveningnews/main566138.shtml?CMP=ILC-SearchStories Rubber Duckies Map The World] – CBS News
* [http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/esb/?goal=ecosystems&file=events/marinedebris/ Social & Economic Costs of Marine Debris] – US NOAA Socioeconomics
[[Category:Aquatic ecology]]
[[Category:Waste]]
[[Category:Water pollution]]
[[Category:Environmental issues with fishing]]
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