Ocean Trash Research Paper

The scientific realm of ocean trash and its impact has been left horrifyingly untouched and is only now being taken up. Consequentially, we have been oblivious to the negative affects of this issue to the point where (1) the largest landfill on Earth is situated in the Pacific Ocean, known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Although we lack a proper understanding, it is still an enormous threat to our planet and to us as humans, a fact that we seem content to be ignorant of. Already, there are (2) well over five trillion known scraps of garbage amuck in the ocean. Another moment cannot be spared if we are to do something. The immense amount of ocean trash afloat has caused concerns for marine life, human health, and even economy. As long as
we put off the inevitable work and clean up we need to preserve our world, the possibility of an unsullied future slips away from us. Sharing our oceans are much forgotten sea life, which are being injured, falling ill, and even suffering the pain of death due to the humans’ ignorance of their pollutants in the ocean. (3) “Citing the harmful impact of marine debris, [the UN Environment Programme] said some 270 species worldwide are affected by entanglement in or ingestion of the trash marine, including 86 per cent of all sea turtles species, 44 per cent of all seabird species and 43 per cent of all marine mammal species.” Although we know how these other life forms are suffering, we continue to postpone any contribution or help we have to offer. While we continue on in our idle unawareness, our furry, scaly, and winged friends continue to die. Among some of the many ways we are killing these innocent creatures with our mess, some ways include (4) them unknowingly gobbling up our trash, which slowly, painfully kills them from the inside, marine mammals getting caught up in “ghost gear”, abandoned fishing equipment which has created the world’s largest death trap for animals, and birds, for instance, seagulls, mistaken bits of plastic for fish and other food sources and feed them to their chicks, who die of either starvation or ruptured organs. Some might argue that, ultimately, animals are simply a source of food to us, and we already have plenty more species on land. As they can’t talk or reason in all other ways they’re useless so it shouldn’t matter that they die. (5) However, we often forget, as said by Jeremy Bentham, “The question is not, ‘Can they reason?’ nor, ‘Can they talk?’ but ‘Can they suffer?’” Our effect on the ocean has not been completely harmless, but in fact has turned us into slaughterers. While the animals suffer and die from the effects of ocean trash, human health is impacted as well.
(6) Sometimes, the marine life that eats our garbage find their way onto our tables as our food. Our digested trash, which has soaked up many toxins, contaminates the fish. If these fish, by some miracle, do not die before fishermen catch them, they poison us. Also, (7) certain chemicals plastics consist of are slowly released into the air we breathe and the water we drink. These chemicals could potentially cause many awful diseases and defects, (8) such as, however not limited to, cancer, liver dysfunction, asthma, bronchitis, severe lung problems, and a multitude of skin diseases. Many of the more common effects, however, are not fatal, such as dizziness, eye and nose irritations, coughing, headaches, and tiredness. But the risk is too high to leave it be until a later date. Not only does our horrible habit of pollution kill marine life, it may also find itself taking
ours. Ocean trash, while claiming lives, is also claiming money.
Of the many negative economic effects, one of the more substantial is that on fishermen. (9) According to a study done in Shetland, ninety two percent of fishermen returned with debris in trapped in their nets, sixty nine percent didn’t sell their catch due to it being contaminated, and another ninety two percent had nets broken from ocean trash on sea beds. The amount of time they spend untangling trash from nets averaged one to two hours per week. (10) In total, the debris is reported to have done over one billion dollars worth of damage. However, this figure doesn’t include the cost of cleaning up. Said Alistair McIlgrom of the National Marine Science Center in Coffs Harbor, "If you added the clean up bill of all of [the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation] it would be a lot more." Although the costs of cleaning up are high, the costs of not cleaning up are even higher. (11) While cleaning up would cost us our money, not cleaning up could cost us our
ocean. In conclusion, the effects of ocean trash are far more devastating then we believe. The debris has stolen the lives of humans and animals alike and also the money out of our pockets. Sadly, the efforts to clean up are far too expensive to attempt. However, (12) a low-cost idea has been envisaged. This plan would take a matter of years, but may just be what our ocean needs. Teenager Boyan Slat suggests “erecting a large and angled barrier and mooring it to the ocean floor in the areas of densest garbage accumulation. Then, the ocean’s currents would take it from there, passively pushing the plastic into a collection zone, cleansing the zone in five years.” The trial run for this project starts in June and may just be exactly what our ocean needs and could very well save the economy, humans, and animals alike.