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Larger animals are also affected by plastic consumption because they feed on fish, and are indirectly consuming microplastics already trapped inside their prey. [180] Likewise, humans are also susceptible to microplastic consumption. People who eat seafood also eat some of the microplastics that were ingested by marine life.
Marine life is one of the most important when one is affected by plastic pollution. Plastic pollution puts animals' lives in danger and is in constant fear of extinction. Marine wildlife such as seabirds, whales, fish and turtles mistake plastic waste for prey; most then die of starvation as their stomachs become filled with plastic.
Over 700 marine species, including half of the world’s cetaceans (such as whales and dolphins), all of its sea turtles, and a third of its seabirds, are known to ingest plastic.
The IPCC (2019) says marine organisms are being affected globally by ocean warming with direct impacts on human communities, fisheries, and food production. [67] It is likely there will be a 15% decrease in the number of marine animals and a decrease of 21% to 24% in fisheries catches by the end of the 21st century because of climate change. [68]
Marine plastic pollution is a type of marine pollution by plastics, ranging in size from large original material such as bottles and bags, down to microplastics formed from the fragmentation of plastic material. Marine debris is mainly discarded human rubbish which floats on, or is suspended in the ocean. Eighty percent of marine debris is plastic.
Smaller marine life such as mussels and worms sometimes mistake plastic for their prey. [53] [58] Larger animals are also affected by plastic consumption because they feed on fish, and are indirectly consuming microplastics already trapped inside their prey. [57] Likewise, humans are also susceptible to microplastic consumption.
A variety of effects have been observed in animals that ingest plastic, including reduced reproductive success, changes in immune function, and increased mortality. [6] There is also growing evidence suggesting that plastic bioaccumulates through the food web, so predators may be affected by the accumulation of plastic in their prey's diet. [6]
Friendly Floatees are plastic bath toys (including rubber ducks) marketed by The First Years and made famous by the work of Curtis Ebbesmeyer, an oceanographer who models ocean currents on the basis of flotsam movements. Ebbesmeyer studied the movements of a consignment of 28,800 Friendly Floatees—yellow ducks, red beavers, blue turtles, and ...