As we slowly explore more and more of our ocean, we are beginning to see some very daunting signs of damage. We are clearly able to see all of the pollution in the ocean while skimming the top, but it has managed to find its way to the deepest parts of our ocean. It is estimated that in our ocean’s water composition microplastics outnumber plankton 5 to 1 and in some areas especially around the Great Pacific Garbage Patch that can reach 24 to 1. Not only is the marine life feeling effects, but we as humans are also affected by the amount of pollution in our seas. As the bigger fish begin to eat the plankton, the plastic begins to bioaccumulate eventually finding its way onto our plate.
An article by Allister Doyle, an ocean correspondent, has some shocking discoveries. While studying crustaceans that live about 10,000 meters down in the Pacific Ocean, they have found that these organisms are heavily polluted with PCBs, chemicals used in electric transformers, paints, and or flame retardants. These and other chemicals supposedly sink to the bottom quicker because of their thickness; it was said that every single specimen they studied had traces of PCB. One specimen had about 50x the amount of pollution than a crab in China’s most polluted river.
Many of these chemicals build very quickly in the tissue or marine life or on the seabeds. In the 2001 Stockholm Convention, we have agreed to ban these persistent and harmful chemicals, but even after we had banned them 17 years ago we are still seeing the polluting our ocean and taking a huge toll on our marine wildlife. We need to take action by cleaning the pollution and damage that we have already caused to the ocean.