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Marine Debris, Plastic
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Trash Talking: Marine Trash and Us28 March 2014
Does Singapore city have marine
life?
Green Turtle, Pulau Hantu, Mar 2005Photo by Jani Thuaibah
Jani Thuaibah
The dugong or sea cow, is found in Singapore waters too, where they feed on sea grass.Dept Environment & Heritage, Government of Australia
Indo-pacific Bottlenose Dolphin(Tursiops aduncus)Straits of Singapore
Photo by Con Foley, 2012
Chek Jawa, Pulau Ubin
Chek Jawa, Pulau Ubin
Giant mudskipper(Periophthalmodon schlosseri)
Sungei Buloh Wetlands ReserveN. Sivasothi, 2009
Monitor Lizard(Varanus salvator)
Pulau UbinN. Sivasothi, 2009
Tree-climbing crab, (Episesarma singaporensis)Sungei Mandai mangrove
N. Sivasothi, 2011
Smooth-coated otters atSungei Buloh Wetlands Reserve,residential population since 1998
Photo by Marcus Ng aka ‘Budak’, 2011
What’s happening to our ocean and
marine life?
Life Magazine 1955 – “Throw away living”
Thompson, R. C., Swan, S. H., Moore, C. J., & vom Saal, F. S. (2009). Our plastic age. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal
Society B: Biological Sciences, 364(1526), 1973-1976.
Plastic threats
• ‘One of the most ubiquitous and long-lasting recent changes to the surface of our planet is the accumulation and fragmentation of plastics’.
• The most substantial use of plastics today, (> 1/3 of production) is for disposable items of packaging, most of which are discarded within a year or so of manufacture.
Picture by Chris Jordan
The problem with plastics
• Non-biodegradable
• “Plastics are accumulating as debris in landfills and in natural
habitats worldwide.”
• “Current use not sustainable”
• ‘. . . plastic production continues to grow at approximately 9 per
cent per annum.’
Thompson, Richard C., Charles J. Moore, Frederick S. vom Saal & Shanna H. Swan, 2009. Plastics, the environment and human health: current consensus and future trends. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B, Biological Sciences, 364 (1526): 2153-2166.
Thompson, R. C., Swan, S. H., Moore, C. J., & vom Saal, F. S. (2009). Our plastic age. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B, Biological Sciences, 364(1526), 1973-1976.
Los Angeles (Altered Oceans, LA Times)
Mandai mangrove, Singapore(N. Sivasothi)
Tanah Merah, 05 May 2013
Gladys Chua, ICCS
Only 20 percent of the plastic in the oceans comes from ships or offshore platforms. The rest orignates from land.
Photo from Chek Jawa, Pulau Ubin by Andy Dinesh
The Pacific Trash Vortex
Different types of marine trash cause different
problems• Very large pieces - huge, abandoned drift nets or ‘ghost nets’
and dumping cause entanglement of animals, suppression of plant growth
• Large pieces - from car fenders down to plastic bottles, suppress growth
• Macro-fragments - ingested by larger animals such as albatross and other seabirds, turtles, fish
• Micro-fragments - ingested by fish, transport invasive species and chemicals
Photo credit:Seal: Lucasa, Z., 1992. Monitoring persistent litter in the marine environment on Sable Island, Nova Scotia. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 24(4): 192-199.Horseshoe crab: N. Sivasothi. Mandai Besar mangrove,27 May 2009Dead albatross: Midway: Message from the Gyre by Chris Jordan
A threat to marine life looms on our shores, locally and globallyEntanglement, Ingestion,
Suffocation, Suppression, Toxins, Transport of Chemicals…
Photo credit: UNEP
Entanglement of wildlife
Entanglement of marine animals
Photo credits: Rolf Ream National Marine Mammal Laboratory (top right); Habitatnews (bottom)
Entanglement of marine animals
300 horseshoe crabs in a single gill net.
Mandai Besar mangrove,27 May 2009
N. Sivasothi
Entanglement of wildlife
Badly entangled flukes of a humpback whale– Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies, United States
Entanglement of wildlife
Plastic canvas in stomachof a dead sperm whale.
Donana Biological Station, Spanish National Research Council, 28 Mar 2012 (EBD-CSIC/AFP, 07 Mar 2013)
Ingestion of plastics
17kg of garbage blocking stomach, including:- some 30 m2 of plastic canvas, - a dozen metres of plastic rope, - plastic sheeting,- two flower pots.
“It did not surprise us” - Renaud de Stephanis, a
marine biologist at the Donana Biological Station
“Turtles have been found to have eaten most plastic items, but the most common items
eaten are:soft plastics, such as plastic
bags and lolly wrappers, and pieces of hard broken-down
plastic”
Dr Kathy Townsend, Moreton Bay, Australia
fb: Turtles in Trouble
Photos by Kathy Townsend
Ingestion of plastics
Midway Atoll, Pacific
Wikipedia: Midway Atoll
Ingestion of plastics
Laysan albatross(Phoebastria immutabilis) Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge
David Patte/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Chris Jordan’s“Midway: Message from the Gyre”
http://www.midwayjourney.com (video can be found in YouTube)
How is this impacting you
and me?
Thompson, Richard C., Charles J. Moore, Frederick S. vom Saal & Shanna H. Swan, 2009. Plastics, the environment and human health: current consensus and future trends. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B, Biological Sciences, 364 (1526): 2153-2166.
Thompson, R. C., Swan, S. H., Moore, C. J., & vom Saal, F. S. (2009). Our plastic age. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B, Biological Sciences, 364(1526), 1973-1976.
Microplastics• There is evidence that plastics are fragmenting in the
environment and, as a consequence, will become available for ingestion by a wider range of organisms (Barnes et al. 2009)
• The ingestion of plastic debris could lead to the transfer of toxic chemicals to wildlife and to food chain. Recent publications have raised new concerns around this issue.
Captain Charles Moore
No Fishmonger on Earth can serve you a certified organic wild caught fish.
“Plastic Soup”
Concentrate organic pollutants up to a million times the ambient level in sea water.
Fish are eating the plastic
Concentration of toxics are the highest at the top of the food chain because toxics in our food has accumulated as it goes up the food chain.
The problem will only get worse
Thanks to Won Joon Shim, Oil and POPs Research Group, Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology, Republic of South Korea, for this slide.
What can we do?
Year Round Cleanups,International Coastal Cleanup
Singapore
Get out there and
clean a beach!
http://coastalcleanup.nus.edu.sg
I REFUSE TO ACCEPT I REFUSE TO ACCEPT THIS!THIS!
What can we do?
International Coastal Cleanup SingaporeStarted by Ocean Conservancy in 1986
Volunteers in Singapore have been battling marine trash since 1992
Reclamation
Reclamation
Reservoir
Army
PROTECTED
Army
4,000 volunteers >60 organisations
Proper disposal of waste!
Don’t Litter!
What can we do?
Zero Waste Singapore with data from NEA“It is ethically wrong that more than 80 per cent of our waste
consists of recyclable material … yet so little of that is recycled,”- Minister for the Environment and Water Resources
Vivian Balakrishnan, 02 July 2013
Throwaway lifestyle is the cause of marine trash!
One-time-use plastic - Something that is used for 5 minutes of convenience
but lasts for hundreds of years!
Reduce!!!
Personal habits• Refuse plastic bags• Bring your own water• Bring your own coffee mug/container• Battle consumerism culture!
What can we do?
Good job Pamela Soo & friends!
Communicate– – facebook– – blog– – newsletters
Personal habits
What can we do?
Encourage(Family, Workplace)
“higher returns”Observe cleanliness, daily resource use
Suggest better practices
Moderate room temperatures (air-con), recycling (paper and others), etc
What can we do?
Encourage Event catering
– – recyclable utensils, – – less food, – – vegetarian options– – do we need goodie bags?
Green audit
What can we do?
Public Hygiene Council - http://phc.sg
Action (nationally, globally) Write in to ask for reductions
Consumers are a potent force! Speak up - question food wastage,
excess plastic use, paper waste. Share solutions!
What can we do?
Creative expression
“We do not inherit the earth from our
ancestors; we borrow it from our
children” ― Chief Seattle
Thank you!
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