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I would like to correct some mis-information posted in this thread.
It was said by Vincerama2:
Plastic. A mess that will stay around forever but biologically inert.
To which I must respond:
Yes plastic can be called "inert".
It however can NOT be called biologically inert. Audubon Magazineand other journals have in the last few years published material regarding plastic plankton. Unfortunatley due to a recent move I cannot provide citations as that material is still boxed, but I would think maybe googling Plastic and plankton something should come up.
There is scientific research ongoing about the problem.
What happens is the platic breaks down to a certain point at
which it essetnially becomes plankton. Animals that feed on
plankton (from whales to birds to krill) are starving to death in certains areas in the middle of the Pacific where due to constant illegal dumping and currents it is concentrated to a point plankton feeders respond (eat it) to the mass of colors. The photos I saw
were astounding. Beautiful, but deadly.
In some areas the plankton being fed on was up to 90% PLASTIC!
A ton of plankton was only 10% edible digestable food. A ton of
plankton in a tow (net) was 200 lbs. organic matter, and 1800 lbs. of plastic. Wonder why stuff was starving? I can hardly call that biologically inert.
birdfish
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