Global Oceans Awash in Plastic
World Ocean Day
Once Pristine Locations from Monterey, CA to Spain's Basque Coast Facing Plastic Pollution
World Ocean Day was marked yesterday around the world. And sadly the state of world oceans is not good. Once pristine ocean locations are loaded with pollution. Two new cases of note.
Monterey Bay
Monterey Bay, California has been considered an environmental success story because the fish and sardine populations have made a comeback. Unfortunately that's not the whole story. Marine biologists from the Monterey Bay Aquarium just tested the water at 3200 feet and found alarming concentrations of microplastics. They found the plastic pollution concentration to be worst than that of the "Great Pacific Garage Patch", the huge floating mass of plastic and other debris floating in the Pacific Ocean.
Bay of Biscay
Meanwhile, an ocean away, volunteers worked the beaches of Spain's Basque coast pulling plastics and other waste from the water and beach. Divers worked offshore. What they pulled out of one of the most protected and important wetlands on the Bay of Biscay in northern Spain is shocking. They found car batteries, bikes, shopping carts, plastic among other types of debris. This region has had UNESCO protected status since 1984.
Innovative Solutions Needed
There are an estimated 5 trillion pieces of plastic waste in the world's oceans. It's a huge environmental hazard and innovative solutions are desperately needed. For a free Kindle borrow of my book, "List of Top New Environmental Innovations", go to amazon.com/author/ekane ASIN: B07MNJL5J1
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| Source: Monterey Bay Aqarium - Monterey Shoreline |
Once Pristine Locations from Monterey, CA to Spain's Basque Coast Facing Plastic Pollution
World Ocean Day was marked yesterday around the world. And sadly the state of world oceans is not good. Once pristine ocean locations are loaded with pollution. Two new cases of note.
Monterey Bay
Monterey Bay, California has been considered an environmental success story because the fish and sardine populations have made a comeback. Unfortunately that's not the whole story. Marine biologists from the Monterey Bay Aquarium just tested the water at 3200 feet and found alarming concentrations of microplastics. They found the plastic pollution concentration to be worst than that of the "Great Pacific Garage Patch", the huge floating mass of plastic and other debris floating in the Pacific Ocean.
Bay of Biscay
Meanwhile, an ocean away, volunteers worked the beaches of Spain's Basque coast pulling plastics and other waste from the water and beach. Divers worked offshore. What they pulled out of one of the most protected and important wetlands on the Bay of Biscay in northern Spain is shocking. They found car batteries, bikes, shopping carts, plastic among other types of debris. This region has had UNESCO protected status since 1984.
Innovative Solutions Needed
There are an estimated 5 trillion pieces of plastic waste in the world's oceans. It's a huge environmental hazard and innovative solutions are desperately needed. For a free Kindle borrow of my book, "List of Top New Environmental Innovations", go to amazon.com/author/ekane ASIN: B07MNJL5J1
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