Marine Debris

John sent me a comment a while back about marine debris out here. He'd seen the BBC spots that were broadcast from here. These BBC guys came in on the same flight I did and were great guys. They broadcast thre different spots that were seen by an estimated 90 million viewers. Unfortunately, I was still in my "I don't know anything about this place" phase and didn't get to do much with them. But, basically, the problem is that a HUGE amount of debris ends up in the ocean, causing a lot of fatalities with wildlife and then much of it ends up washing up on reefs and beaches. Nets, floats, lighters ropes, bottles, cans; you name it, it shows up. Rope and nets are especially a problem as they often entangle and kill wildlife. At one time, a lot of stuff was just tossed over the side of ships, but, with stricter laws and more awareness that problem seems to have decreased. A lot of the stuff seems to wash into the ocean from the land. Think about it. That dead lighter laying on the street could end up washing onto the beach at Midway! The reason I mention lighters is because the damn things are ALL OVER out here. The BBC guys picked up something like 40 in about 20 minutes. The amount of stuff out there is truly amazing and hard to imagine. You have to see it to believe it.

There are piles in many places on the atoll. We hold cleanups and gather it off the beaches and out of the water, but, then what? Some is burnable, but not all. Brent, one our volunteers, is making a hammock out of some of the fishnet. Cindy, a volunteer who also is an officer with the Friends of Midway, makes necklaces out of little floats. Winia, one of the Thais, does some amazing etchings on Japanese glass floats. Maybe we should start a little cottage industry "Midway Arts and Crafts."

Yesterday, I was asked to go fill a box with a representative sample of debris. Y'all know me, I always have to know "why". Evidently it's being shipped to Japan to be burned. The idea is to see if it can safely be burned and used as an energy source. Hmmm.....it would certainly help with our problem of disposal, but, I think you'd have to have some really good scrubbers installed to take care of the toxins.

Another problem with the plastics is that the albatrosses eat the stuff. The way they feed is to hang out on the ocean's surface and just grab what comes by. Mainly they are after squid, but they often end up with floating pieces of plastic. I've found countless bird skeletons or near skelotons, full of plastic. One had a piece of plastic pipe six inches long in it. The estimate is that nearly 10,000 pounds of plastic comes onto the island each year from adults regurgitating it into their chicks.

Plastic is a great material and has lots of great uses. But, do me a favor. Don't use it unless you have to...

Later,

Murray