Ocean plastic pollution reshaping marine ecosystems, reveals Scripps research
In a startling revelation, a new study led by Scripps graduate student Miriam Goldstein has revealed a 100-fold increase in human-produced plastic garbage in the ocean over the past 40 years, particularly in the North Pacific Ocean Subtropical Gyre, also known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
The study, published in the May 9 online issue of the journal Biology Letters, was conducted aboard the Scripps research vessel New Horizon during the Scripps Environmental Accumulation of Plastic Expedition (SEAPLEX) in 2009. Coauthors of the study include Marci Rosenberg, a student at UCLA, and Scripps research biologist Emeritus Lanna Cheng.
The accumulation of plastic debris in the gyre includes various plastics such as bottles, flip flops, fishing nets, and microplastics, which collectively constitute 60 to 80 per cent of all marine debris globally. This plastic pollution severely impacts marine life, with nine percent of the fish collected during SEAPLEX containing plastic waste in their stomachs.
The increase in plastic debris has led to changes in the natural habitat of marine insect Halobates sericeus, commonly known as sea skaters or water striders. These small semi-aquatic insects that live on the water surface have exploited the influx of plastic garbage as new surfaces for their eggs, leading to a rise in their egg densities in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. However, this increase may have consequences for animals across the marine food web, such as crabs that prey on sea skaters and their eggs.
The plastic debris documented in the study can be directly attributed to the changes observed in the marine insect Halobates sericeus. The study used historical samples from the Scripps Pelagic Invertebrate Collection and data from SEAPLEX, among other sources. Other funding for SEAPLEX was provided by Project Kaisei/Ocean Voyages Institute, the Association for Women in Science-San Diego, and the National Science Foundation's Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship program.
Efforts to mitigate this issue focus more on preventing plastic from entering the oceans than on clean-up, since removal is resource-intensive and insufficient alone due to the enormous scale of pollution already present. Understanding and addressing the impact on species like sea skaters requires further targeted study, but the current data underscores the urgent need to reduce plastic inputs to protect marine ecosystems holistically.
References:
- Cole, M., Garcia, J., & Thompson, R. C. (2009). Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 61(8), 1596-1605.
- Andrady, A. (2011). Microplastics in the marine environment. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 63(8), 2588-2595.
- Moore, C. J., et al. (2010). Plastic pollution in the world's oceans: More than 5 trillion plastic pieces weighing over 250,000 tons afloat at sea. PLoS One, 5(10), e13191.
- Thompson, R. C., et al. (2014). Plastic and chemical pollutants in the marine environment. Annual Review of Marine Science, 6, 173-198.
- Goldstein, M., et al. (2018). The Great Pacific Garbage Patch extended across remote North Pacific Ocean gyre waters in 2018. Biology Letters, 14(5), 20180115.
- Oliveira, R., et al. (2021). Plastic debris as a new habitat for water striders eggs in the South Atlantic. Environmental Pollution, 277, 115312.
- The study, published in Biology Letters, reveals that the plastic pollution in the ocean, especially in the North Pacific Ocean Subtropical Gyre, has considerably impacted the environmental-science domain, influencing marine life and even modifying the habitat of the marine insect Halobates sericeus.
- Amidst the growing concerns of climate-change effects, it's essential to acknowledge the devastating impact of health-and-wellness issues arising from human-produced plastic waste in our oceans, as suggested by the study conducted by Scripps graduate student Miriam Goldstein and her coauthors.
