Merrilyn,
Perhaps S.A. May have more of a problem than you think. A very large part of
oceanic plastic pollution is from sources you don't readily see. Nurdles, or
micro-plastics seem to be a real problem. Walk along a beach and you don't see
them as they are typically are sub 1 mm and are often of such a colour that
they blend in with the sand of a beach. Thousands of tonnes of nurdles are lost
from the production chain every year, with a high percentage of them eventually
finding their way into waterways. Being light weight, much ends up in the seas.
The nurdle problem is too great to go into detail here, but a quick bit of
research on the net will reveal the whole problem.
Cheers, sort of,
Carl Clifford
On 06/09/2012, at 9:26 PM, Merrilyn Serong <> wrote:
> I also saw that program tonight. The quantity of extra plastic that enters
> the oceans daily is astounding... except in waters off South Australia, where
> people pay a deposit on drink bottles and can return them for the refund. If
> that system was introduced world wide, it might actually make a difference.
> However, the common drink bottle is only one part of the problem. One bird
> was found with many other plastic items in its stomach. One of them was the
> plastic arm of a doll. We need to somehow reduce our dependence on plastic
> items... perhaps when oil runs out. There are non-plastic alternatives, but I
> guess they are more expensive. If we do nothing, the pain and suffering of
> wildlife will only keep increasing.
> Regards,
> Merrilyn
>
> On 6/09/2012 8:32 PM, Carl Clifford wrote:
>> Dear B-A,
>>
>> An excellent but scary item on the effects of plastic ingestion by sea birds
>> and other sea life on the ABC program, Quantum, tonight. I was aware of the
>> problem with the ingestion of larger pieces of plastic on seabirds, but
>> researchers have found an even worse problem. It seems that plastic
>> particles adsorb pollutants such as mercury and it then enters the food
>> chain, ending up in the top predators, with us at the top. It has put me off
>> seafood.
>>
>> The program is worth catching on iView.
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Carl Clifford
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