There are millions of species of fish in the ocean. Humans consume only a small variety of them. Larger fish prey on smaller fish, so when a large fish is harvested, it contains all the toxins that the smaller fish consumed too. There are several ways to combat the potential for health risks in humans. Plastics have to be stopped from entering the ocean, and a lot of that starts with education and willingness to participate. Future scientists and the generations that follow must be aware of this ever growing issue. Without this knowledge things will never change or improve.
One way to decrease plastic pollution in marine environments is to use special contraptions to clean the water. One of these devices is known as the Seabin. Seabins…show more content… The Seabin is also not intended to withstand the harshness of swells and waves in the open ocean. The pump has to be on land to run. The bins are not very large either. They are similar in size to a five gallon bucket. Being this small, they could not be used for large scale cleanups. The size of the bins would have to be increased immensely to target the gyres of trash that have concentrated in several locations. The Seabins are also very expensive. According to an article written by Sarah Griffith, “The bins cost $3,825 (£2,500) each...” Since these bins are located at the surface, they cannot target a good majority of the plastics that are in suspension. They also cannot trap micro-plastics, which are very harmful to organisms. Micro-plastics are typically what the smaller aquatic organisms feed on; therefore, they pose more…show more content… According to the Ocean Cleanup Project’s webpage, “Instead of going after the plastic using boats and nets, The Ocean Cleanup envisions a network of long floating barriers, which would allow the ocean currents to passively gather the plastic. Once the plastic is concentrated at a central point, it can be collected for recycling.” The collection device, much like many other protypes, uses the natural current to target the majority of the plastics. They use a large V- shaped arm to contain the pollution. The floating arm is connected to the sea floor, so it cannot float away. There is a screen under the water that keeps most plastics in place, but it doesn’t descend deep enough to pose a lot of threat to wildlife (Technology). This greatly offsets the risk of wildlife becoming entangled. It also lessens the stress on marine species that are caught in it as bycatch. It allows them to have room to move without depriving them of oxygen. Many turtles and dolphins die, because they cannot surface to breath when they become trapped in a net. It also keeps the organisms from being forced into a small and central location where they can cause harm to themselves if they panic. These are all problems associated with using nets to capture debris and other floating
