Naked Science Forum

Life Sciences => Marine Science => Topic started by: knowledgepower21 on 30/01/2021 23:01:24

Title: How plastic damages the sealife?
Post by: knowledgepower21 on 30/01/2021 23:01:24: Do you know that:
- More than 1 million seabirds and 100,000 marine animals die from plastic pollution every year.
- 100% of baby sea turtles have plastic in their stomachs.
- There is now 5.25 trillion macro and micro pieces of plastic in our ocean & 46,000 pieces in every square mile of ocean, weighing up to 269,000 tonnes.
- Every day around 8 million pieces of plastic makes their way into our oceans.
- The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is around 1.6 million square kilometers – bigger than Texas.
- The world produces 381 million tonnes in plastic waste yearly – this is set to double by 2034. 50% of this is single-use plastic & only 9% has ever been recycled.
- Over 2 million tonnes of plastic packaging are used in the UK each year. 88% of the sea's surface is polluted by plastic waste.
- Between 8 to 14 million tonnes enters our ocean every year
Source: Condor Ferries ltd 2021
Title: Re: How plastic damages the sealife?
Post by: charles1948 on 04/02/2021 22:12:26: Quote from: knowledgepower21 on 30/01/2021 23:01:24
Do you know that:
- 100% of baby sea turtles have plastic in their stomachs.

How can you make that claim scientifically? Have 100% of baby sea turtles been examined to check their stomach contents?
Title: Re: How plastic damages the sealife?
Post by: Bored chemist on 04/02/2021 22:27:00: Quote from: charles1948 on 04/02/2021 22:12:26
Quote from: knowledgepower21 on 30/01/2021 23:01:24
Do you know that:
- 100% of baby sea turtles have plastic in their stomachs.

How can you make that claim scientifically? Have 100% of baby sea turtles been examined to check their stomach contents?
It's probably almost true- with the exception (maybe) of turtles too young to have eaten anything.

The plastic particles are so numerous, small and so numerous that there's quite possibly - on average- many in a volume of sea water equal to that of a baby turtles stomach.
A bit like this
https://www.sciencefocus.com/planet-earth/are-we-really-breathing-caesars-last-breath/

You don't need to check every turtle.
Title: Re: How plastic damages the sealife?
Post by: charles1948 on 04/02/2021 22:33:56: You do if you're going to claim that 100% have plastic in them.
Title: Re: How plastic damages the sealife?
Post by: Bored chemist on 04/02/2021 22:46:38: I claim that every time you inhale, you breathe in molecules that were previously breathed by Caesar.
Do you dispute that?
Would you like to show the maths?
Title: Re: How plastic damages the sealife?
Post by: charles1948 on 04/02/2021 22:50:25: Bloody sophist.
Title: Re: How plastic damages the sealife?
Post by: Bored chemist on 04/02/2021 22:54:54: Quote from: charles1948 on 04/02/2021 22:50:25
Bloody sophist.

Thank you for illustrating your grasp of the subject so clearly.