This is an edited article originally written by Benjamin Butterworth about how the amount of plastic pollution is affecting the ocean's wildlife.
Currently it is crucial for us to try and reduce our plastic consumption and the waste that we put into our planet or the consequences will be awful. This article documents how bad the reality of plastic pollution is and also how deeply it is reaching our oceans.
The original article is on the hyperlink below:
https://inews.co.uk/news/environment/plastic-found-three-quarters-deep-ocean-fish/
Plastic-filled waters of Indonesia:
There has been a significant increase in the amount of plastic found in deep ocean fish, according to new research.
Almost three quarters of fish living in the ocean’s depths were found to contain plastic, with one 4.5 cm long lantern fish found to have 13 particles in its stomach.
Experts have warned that the scale of plastic ingestion could pose serious health risks as it filters up the food chain to humans.
Widespread problem
Scientists examined 233 intestinal contents from seven species of fish in a polluted area of the north Atlantic ocean.
Seventy three per cent had consumed plastic, “making it one of the highest reported frequencies of micro-plastic occurrence in fish worldwide”.
The affected species are an important food source for the likes of dolphins, seals and tuna.
Among the fish species examined, Gonostoma denudatum had the highest ingestion rate (100 per cent) followed by Serrivomer beanii (93 per cent) and Lampanyctus macdonaldi (75 per cent).
Human threat
The study, by Frontiers of Marine Science, found that fish absorbed dangerous chemical pollutants that had either accumulated on the plastics while in the sea or been added after in production.
The reports authors said they “found a much higher occurrence of microplastic fragments, mainly polyethylene fibres, in the gut contents of mesopelagic fish than previously reported”.
Tom Doyle, a co-author at the National University of Ireland Galway, said: “It’s worrying to think that our daily activities, such as washing our clothes in our washing machines, results in billions of micro plastics entering our oceans that may eventually end up in these deep sea fishes.”
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