August 30, 2024
The Impacts of Plastic Pollution on Ocean Animals
BY: Joshua Cohn
Plastic pollution is deadly to ocean wildlife. Ingesting plastic can lead to slow and painful starvation, while plastic entanglement can cause loss of limbs and worse.
None of the ocean’s inhabitants are safe – not the largest whales nor the smallest fish. Some of the most impacted groups of marine animals are also some of the most beloved. Sea turtles struggle to differentiate plastics from prey, whales accidentally gulp down balloons when feeding, and some seabirds have been consuming so much plastic pollution a term medical term was coined —plasticosis.
SEABIRDS
Plasticosis occurs due to the rough edges that form on pieces of plastic pollution as it breaks down and these edges can cause internal injuries when ingested. Enough of these injuries lead to scarring, which is called fibrosis, hence the name Plasticosis: plastic-induced fibrosis. All this scarring makes it harder for seabirds to digest their food, meaning the birds can struggle to get the nutrients they and their offspring need. While not directly fatal, such an ailment can seriously weaken the bird, making them more susceptible to illness and infection.
Sadly, feeding isn’t the only time seabirds must contend with plastic. When waddling along a shoreline or swimming at sea, they can become entangled in plastic debris. But even a minor entanglement can inhibit flight and quickly develop into a lethal situation.
SEA TURTLES
Sea turtles face similar threats, and their problems with plastic are well documented. In a recent Mediterranean study, over 100 entangled or stranded loggerhead sea turtles had their stomachs examined for plastic debris, finding that almost half of them had consumed some type of plastic. One poor turtle had consumed a whopping 67 pieces of plastic! Oceana also documented over 260 loggerhead sea turtles suffering from plastic ingestion or entanglement in U.S. waters, with over half the cases being recent hatchlings. As sea turtles often eat invertebrates like jellyfish or sponges, they show a strong preference for clear, sheet plastic items, like plastic bags, balloons, food wrappers and films.
But that doesn’t mean sheet plastic is the only problematic type of pollution. Other recurring items identified ranged from common trash like bottle caps to the horrifically amusing: the researchers even said they once found a plastic witch’s finger from a Halloween costume! While sea turtles can have their digestive tracts clogged by plastic, they also suffer from another nefarious threat. Some plastic, like bottle caps, are less dense than seawater and float on the surface. If a sea turtle ingests too much of this plastic, it can become positively buoyant and unable to dive. Sea turtles must come up to the surface for air, but they must also be able to dive to feed. This condition can lead to starvation, but also make sea turtles more susceptible to being attacked by predators or struck by boats.
WHALES
Photos of large whales with graphic injuries due to plastic pollution entanglement are unfortunately common. And, like many marine species, whales also mistake plastic for prey. Balloons have been documented lodged in whale’s digestive tracts, inhibiting feeding. In a tragic parallel to the fate sea turtles face, a whale unable to feed eventually becomes too weak to surface or will end up stranded; both outcomes potentially fatal.
WHAT COMES NEXT? A SOLUTION EXISTS
For the first time plastic has been found contaminating deep-sea cold-water corals and building up in deep sea hydrothermal vent communities. These unique and vulnerable vent communities are unlike any others found on Earth except perhaps for being polluted by plastic.
The good news? All of this is avoidable.
Be it balloons, single-use cutlery, or water bottles and their caps, single-use plastic imperils the health of our oceans. Oceana campaigns to urge companies to cut down on the production of single-use plastic and move to reusable alternatives as well as pressure governments to ensure companies act. We’ve successfully won plastic reduction pledges from large corporations, succeeded in the passage of laws to ban the intentional release of balloons and phase out plastic foam foodware, and so much more.
Join Oceana and turn off the tap on single-use plastic pollution.
