The Mariana Trench—the deepest point in the ocean—extends nearly 36,000 feet down in a remote part of the Pacific Ocean. But if you thought the trench could escape the global onslaught of plastics pollution, you would be wrong. A recent study revealed that a plastic bag, like the kind given away at grocery stores, is now the deepest known piece of plastic trash, found at a depth of 36,000 feet inside the Mariana Trench. Scientists found it by looking through the Deep-Sea Debris Database, a collection of photos and videos taken from 5,010 dives over the past 30 years that was recently made public. Of the classifiable debris logged in the database, plastic was the most prevalent, and plastic bags in particular made up the greatest source of plastic trash. Other debris came from material like rubber, metal, wood, and cloth, and some is yet to be classified. Most of the plastic—a whopping 89 percent—was the type of plastic that is used once and then thrown away, like a plastic water bottle or disposable utensil. While the Mariana Trench may seem like a dark, lifeless pit, it hosts more life than you might think. NOAA's Okeanos Explorer vessel searched the region's depths in 2016 and found diverse life-forms, including species like coral, jellyfish, and octopus. The recent study also found that 17 percent of the images of plastic logged in the database showed interactions of some kind with marine life, like animals becoming entangled in the debris. https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/05/plastic-bag-mariana-trench-pollution-science-spd/
California has a plan to fix this crap! When you go to the store here you must pay for the bag, 15 cent I think. Now I have no idea how paying for the bag keeps it out of the ocean, but that is the plan. I know it is the plan because a very smart young fella with a Phd was on TV explaining the plan. I just must of missed the part about how it keeps the plastic bag out of the ocean. Not his fault, I miss a lot of things. So anyway I get it, I go to the store with my own tote bag, don't need the store to give me one every figgin time I go to the store! But I soon notice, I am running out of plastic bag to hank on my garbage can in the boat! Those tote handles are just right for hanking them on the garbage can. The ones for sale don't have tote handles. So, I start buying the 15 cent bags for the garbage can. Dang you know, the ones they sell you are far superior to the freebies the give you up in Oregon. There are tough. You can count on them getting your garbage to the dumpster without coming apart and ruining your day picking up garbage you spilled all over the dock before you could get it to the dumpster. The 15 cents is a good deal! I wonder if the young Phd knows about this part of the life cycle of the good bags? What happens next with the bag isn't my concern, is it?
Awesome! So you finally believe that humankind can pollute the earth. This is such a huge step for you. Now if we can only get you to realize that this pollution can actually do damage to the earth.
I have one of these in my boat. It is on the top of the list of items to check when the Coast Guard comes to give the MarAzul it's quarterly inspections for compliance. We pass every time, so the issues should be gone shortly.
Did you spatter coffee on your sign? I would think you would not dump anything into the ocean except human excrement (turtle food).
Damned if I know. But I am required to post the sign and I hate to inform you where you may dump your dunnage! It makes guys like @SlyPokerDog feel good though. A virtue signal, I think.
Don't these people believe in evolution? Plastic is better than flesh, it lasts exponentially longer. The next species to dominate the planet will be thankful to us.
