“The ocean gives us oxygen, it gives us food, it gives of joy. We give it plastic, saturate it with carbon, and relentlessly extract the life out of it,” said Sir Richard Branson during the World Oceans Day conference. “The… Read More ›
Plastic Pollution
Plastic Debris Swarms Arctic Ocean
Hundreds of tonnes of plastic are cluttering the once pristine Arctic Ocean and doing great damage to the planet, a new report has found. On top of the danger of fish and other wildlife swallowing the plastic, the material contains… Read More ›
UN Launches Clean Seas Campaign
cientists say that the equivalent of a dump truck load of plastic is deposited in the world’s oceans every minute, and this quantity will only increase as consumption and population grow, too. By 2050, it’s said there will be more plastic than fish in the seas. The UN writes, “As many as 51 trillion microplastic particles – 500 times more than stars in our galaxy – litter our seas, seriously threatening marine wildlife.”
Pollution reaches the Mariana Trench
The amphipods were contaminated with PCBs — polychlorinated biphenyls — toxic chemicals used for decades in industry, as well as other industrial pollutants known as persistent organic pollutants.
“Every sample we had,” Jamieson says, “had contaminants in it at very high or extraordinarily high levels.”
A United Worldwide Front to “Break Free from Plastic”
A network of 90 NGOs from around the world including big names such as Greenpeace, Oceana, the Story of Stuff Project, GAIA, 5Gyres and Clean Water Action have come together to launch a massive global movement to achieve a “future… Read More ›
Plastic Smog Continues to Spread in Oceans
An OP-ED by Dr. Chad Nelsen, Surfrider CEO Every single time I go for a surf or a swim in the ocean in Southern California, I find plastic floating in the sea. I usually grab the plastic bag, wrapper or… Read More ›
San Francisco Bans Foam Products
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously voted to outlaw a host of commonly used foam products, in a move hailed as the nation’s most extensive such ban. The ban applies to polystyrene food packaging, packing peanuts, to-go… Read More ›
Karachi’s Polluted Ocean Impacts Economy
The team of five exhausted fishermen have just return from a three-day tiring journey of the Arabian Sea. After anchoring their wobbly 30-foot boat at the fishing jetty of Karachi’s historical fishing settlement, Ibrahim Hyderi, they started unloading… Read More ›
Balloons that Fall to Earth and Sea
Of the 40 balloons Russ reported, 31 were made of Mylar. This is discouraging, as despite their one-time use, Mylar balloons take a long time to degrade. These balloons were more likely than other balloon types to be found individually and still partially inflated. Rubber balloons, another prevalent balloon type, were more likely to be found deflated or shredded, and often tied together in groups. Many of the reported balloons also had a plastic string attached, creating yet another hazard for marine life.
Scuba Divers Provide Infographic on Ocean Pollution
Every year, over 8 million tons of plastic is being deliberately dumped into the ocean, causing catastrophic consequences for marine life and their habitats
Neptune 911! 