When will we learn not to throw plastic in the ocean??... Save Zooplanktons! - Zeina Nasser

Throwing plastic in the ocean is one of the most dangerous crises facing the world today. Not only does it harm the marine environment, but it also causes huge threats against tiny creatures in the oceans. Why don’t we pay a bit of attention to our vital environment, which we benefit of in a number of ways?…

Eight million metric tons of our plastic waste enter the oceans from land each year, a study estimated. An estimated 14 billion pounds of trash, much of it plastic, is dumped in the world’s oceans every year. So, what should we do about this?…. Knowing that micro-plastics affect the whole food chain, there are a number of steps that should be done to stop this ugly reality.

In this regard, The Guardian mentioned that Scientists will sail from the UK to the Falkland Islands to study the level of microplastic pollution on tiny zooplankton at the bottom of the food chain. It also mentioned that “The Atlantic Meridional Transect expedition, due to leave the Port of Immingham on Tuesday, will travel to the middle of the Atlantic and then head south before cutting across to the Falkland Islands to shed light on how widespread microplastics are in zooplankton”.

Madeleine Steer at Plymouth University, who will be aboard the RRS James Clark Ross for the 46-day voyage said: “Studies have proven that zooplankton suffer side effects from ingestion of microplastics: increased mortality, not as successful at reproducing. In other species, there is a change in behaviour that makes them more vulnerable to predation. Basically it’s not good for them, they’re going to die.”

She added: “But there’s not much work that’s been done looking at the bottom of the food chain in the wild, and how microplastics affect them. We need to see the prevalence [of microplastics] in zooplankton.”

The Guardian also mentioned that “Scientists will travel up to 600 miles a day on the British Antarctic Survey vessel, which will also be helping to calibrate – or “ground truth” – a satellite project that is monitoring the colour of the oceans to create maps of phytoplankton chlorophyll, the green pigment found in plants”.

What are Micro Plastics?

They are small plastic particles in the environment that are generally smaller than 1 mm
They can come from cosmetics, clothing, or industrial processes
One of the main reasons they cause a threat to microorganisms is that they do not break down for many years. So, they might be ingested, incorporated into, and accumulated in the tiny organisms’ bodies.

So, When will we learn not to throw plastic in the ocean??… and when will we see that it’s really important to save Zooplanktons???