One Million Feared Dead

In one of the most alarming discoveries this century, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan stated that at least one million have perished in the last year with potential for that number to grow.

Marine trash, consisting of primarily plastic, is killing more than a million seabirds each year.  Add this to the estimated 100,000 sea turtles and mammals that suffer a similar fate and we have a true catastrophe on our hands.

In one instance alone scientists discovered a three million-ton mass of plastic debris the size of Texas floating in the North Pacific subtropical gyre.  It is believed that the plastic debris, containing DDT-like toxins and PCBs, is discarded by American, Japanese and Canadians from their coastal regions. The mass appears to be getting larger due to the estimated 14 Billion pounds of garbage disposed of in the world's oceans every year.

Most plastics found in the subtropical gyre do not biodegrade, they “photo-degrade” instead.  Sunlight breaks the plastics into smaller pieces but remain as polymers.  Scientists estimate that it takes approximately 1,000 years non-biodegradable plastics to decompose in sea water.

At least 50 seabird species ingest plastic, primarily styrofoam while sea turtles mistake plastic bags for jellyfish. Toxic substances cause reproductive failure or death to marine wildlife, including fish and shellfish that use the habitat.

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