.
Obviously, this sea turtle
was scarred. After this
picture was taken, maybe
it would die soon. As we
can imagine, there are still
thousands of sea turtles
How plastic waste is affecting wildlife and fisheries
The main waste in the ocean is the Plastic debris. About 80 percent of marine debris is plastic.
Every year, a huge number of seabirds, turtles, and fisheries died of eating plastic debris by mistake.
• Naval and research vessels eject waste and military equipment that are deemed unnecessary.
• Pleasure crafts release fishing gear and other types of waste, either accidentally or through negligent handling.
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Effects on wildlife & fisheries
(how have the plastic debris affected them)
1. Entanglement • Entanglement is responsible for many different kinds of
wildlife. Such as seals, fish, turtles, and birds. • These animals get caught in the debris and end
Parsons&JR ,2012 ）
2
The organism that is being affected
• Seabirds • Whales • Fisheries • Seals • Sea lions • Sea turtle • Dolphins
3
Aquatic wildlife can be
up suffocating or drowning. • They don’t have hands like us to untangle themselves, as a
result, they die from their inability to escape their predators. （ Hammer, J; Kraak, MH; Parsons&JR 2012).
under the threaten of
plastic debris. If no one
helps them, they are just
dying lonely, scared, and
desperated.
4
This picture tells us a sad story about this turtle: it was trapped accidentally when it was young. As it grew bigger and bigger, the rubber band limited it. As a result, its body was deformed.
• The North Pacific Gyre, for example, has collected the so-called
“Great Pacific Garbage Patch”, which is now estimated to be one to twenty times the size of Texas (approximately from 700,000 to 15,000,000 square kilometers). In samples taken in 1999, the mass of plastic exceeded that of zooplankton (the dominant animal life in the area) by a factor of six. (Weisman&Alan，2007). Click to see more details
• The largest ocean-based source of plastic pollution is discarded
fishing gear (including traps and nets), estimated to be up to 90% of
plastic debris in some areas. （ Hammer, J; Kraak, MH;
5
Convincing data(on Pacific Ocean)
• In a 2008 Pacific Gyre voyage, Algalita Marine Research
Foundation researchers began finding that fish are eating plastic fragments and waste. Of the 672 fish caught during that voyage, 35% had ate plastic pieces. Click to see more details
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Human actions that polluted the pacific ocean
• Merchant ships expel cargo, sewage, used medical equipment, and other types of waste that contain plastic into the ocean.