University of São Paulo: Pacific garbage patch has become home to its own ecosystem
AThe Great Pacific Garbage Patch is an accumulation of plastic waste covering 1.6 million square kilometers and about 80,000 tons. It is located between California and Hawaii and its size represents about three times the size of France. Other spots like this one also exist and worry marine scientists who believe that the accumulation of garbage can harm these places.
Recently, in research released by the journal Nature , it was revealed that some coastal species are colonizing open waters by means of the garbage island. That is, bodies that normally did not occupy these places began to reproduce, since the total decomposition of plastic takes years, enough time for these bodies to manage to create their own habitat. According to Alexander Turra, a professor at the Department of Biological Oceanography at the Oceanographic Institute of the University of São Paulo, the increased accumulation of plastic waste in these regions contributes to the agglomeration of new species in these regions.
garbage stain
It is interesting to note that the formation of these waste islands occurs through different sea currents that create an area of low mobility in the center of these gyres. “It is as if it were the center of a hurricane, so in this calm area the accumulation of this garbage occurs. The residues that are released by different countries or that reach the sea through rivers, when they arrive in this region end up being agglomerated”, explains the specialist.
It is noted that these residues are formed from the composition of different floating particles, that is, the objects that we manage to capture are those that still float, since, with time and with the accumulation of residues, the buoyancy of this residue is modified, causing most of them to reach the bottom of the sea.
The professor comments that this accumulation of waste is harmful to the environment, since it can be confused with food when ingested by different organisms that live in the region. In addition, some of these residues have the ability to entangle the local biodiversity.
new ecosystem
One of the major problems that are associated with the garbage patch is the fact that the residues present there become substrates for organisms that live in hard bottoms. “Usually we have a few organisms that live on hard substrates traveling through the open ocean, with a few exceptions. With the increase of plastic in the oceans, the amount of substrate for these species has increased a lot”, explains Turra.
According to the specialist, at this moment, the consequences associated with this new ecosystem are small, since most of these individuals are filter feeders. Thus, they do not necessarily have an effect on the food chain. However, Turra points out that these organisms act as vectors of exotic species, thus, coastal species of a country would move to these areas and, over time, would colonize a new region. Therefore, in addition to this new ecosystem being exotic for that location, it can become an invasive species, causing different impacts on the destination location.
Prevention
Among the best ways to combat the current scenario, prevention stands out as the most practical method. According to Turra, “it goes through a logic that is being worked on in a Treaty at the United Nations Environmental Assembly, which aims to combat environmental pollution by plastics. We understand that, to solve this problem, we need to have solutions at the beginning of the plastic chain”.
The professor discusses that, after producing different plastic products, it is necessary to start thinking about the rationalization of their management, so, when waste is generated, it is interesting to think of ways for them to be used again, preventing them from returning to the environment . Individual actions are also usually positive when we think of solutions to the problem, so it is interesting to think about the products we usually consume and how we deal with the waste that comes from them.