The current rate of birds found to have plastic embedded in their guts means that by 2050, according to research estimates, every seabird on the planet will have consumed waste plastic fragments. This is based on birds examined in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic Oceans. Levels of plastic in the oceans now stand at around 580,000 pieces per square kilometer. This is equivalent to eight million tonnes, which approximates an covering an area 34 times the size of New York’s Manhattan Island to ankle depth.
These levels of plastic are harmful to the birds and can result in death if the plastic remains in the gut and cannot be digested. As a comparator to the 90 percent rate in 2015, in 1960 only 5 percent of birds were estimated to have pieces of plastic logged into their guts.
According to BBC Science, the areas of most concern are the Southern Ocean, near Australia, South Africa and South America. These areas contain the greatest concentration of sea birds.
The finding about the extent of plastic found inside the guts of seabirds has come from the research of Erik Van Sebille, who is based at Imperial College in London. Dr. Van Sebille has outlined the research in the journal PNAS (“Threat of plastic pollution to seabirds is global, pervasive, and increasing.”)
Dr Van Sebille told the BBC: “A pristine ocean doesn’t exist anymore. Every ocean is now filled with plastic. Some have more than others, but what we found is that even the oceans that are not known for their plastic – they still have quite a bit of plastic and they can be where the harm is really done just because that’s where all the birds live.”
The findings are a further indication of the environmental damage caused by plastic washed out to sea. Such is the extent that some scientists are talking of a new ecosystem having come into being. This is termed “the plastisphere.” Such is the complexity of this new environment that one study found over 1,000 species of bacteria and algae attached to microplastic debris. This included a high proportion of pathogenic species.
As Digital Journal reported in 2014, the risk is that fish swallow the bacteria and here metabolic processes can proves harmful to the fish. In terms of risks to humans, aside from the pathogens, is that the microorganisms can accelerate the breakdown of plastic materials, releasing hazardous chemicals.
