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Gulf of Mexico is apparently full of plastic waste
Posted on 8/17/17 at 8:14 am
Posted on 8/17/17 at 8:14 am
quote:
Gulf of Mexico loaded with one of world's highest concentrations of plastic
LINK
The Gulf of Mexico is famous for its bountiful catches: blue crab, shrimp, redfish. Add one more: plastic.
The first survey of the amount and types of plastic in the gulf has found concentrations approaching the highest reported in world. It puts the waters off Louisiana on par with the Mediterranean and Black seas and the mouth of China's heavily-polluted Yangtze River.
"It was a surprise," Mark Benfield, an LSU oceanographer who led the survey, said Tuesday (Aug. 15). "I didn't expect that the gulf would have as much plastic as it did."
Each net or bottle dipped into the gulf by the survey team came up laden with plastic. "We found it every time," Benfield said.
13
Posted on 8/17/17 at 8:15 am to goofball
Let's cut to the chase, who wants how much money?
Posted on 8/17/17 at 8:15 am to goofball
Not a big surprise at all... half the country drains down the Mississppi River system and into the Gulf of Mexico. Just go look at all the plastic trash floating down the river through BR... that all ends up in Gulf eventually.
Posted on 8/17/17 at 8:16 am to LNCHBOX
quote:
Let's cut to the chase, who wants how much money?
Maybe this helps justify their water research campus.
Posted on 8/17/17 at 8:18 am to goofball
i know its gross and unsightly, but is plastic actually any type of hazard? does it leach chemicals into the water or just kind of sit there..forever.
Posted on 8/17/17 at 8:21 am to CAD703X
Depends on which yankee had been lipping that particular bottle.. 
Posted on 8/17/17 at 8:22 am to CAD703X
I'm sure it must have some impact on wildlife.
Posted on 8/17/17 at 8:23 am to goofball
Can't we just build some type of industrial machine to sweep the ocean and collect all the floating plastics?
Posted on 8/17/17 at 8:25 am to LSUBoo
quote:
half the country drains down the Mississppi River system and into the Gulf of Mexico.
Mexico isn't probably helping keep the Gulf clean either.
Posted on 8/17/17 at 8:25 am to goofball
I've caught some pretty nice Mahi under and around large piles of floating plastic.
Posted on 8/17/17 at 8:29 am to MontyFranklyn
quote:
Can't we just build some type of industrial machine to sweep the ocean and collect all the floating plastics?
These already exist. Just have to adapt it for use in the Gulf... would likely have to be a lot bigger.
Mr. Trash Wheel
Posted on 8/17/17 at 8:30 am to MontyFranklyn
quote:
Can't we just build some type of industrial machine to sweep the ocean and collect all the floating plastics?
They have these in some harbors around The country. The 2 most well known are in Boston and Baltimore. They probably wouldn't be able to handle open ocean though.
Edit: Too late dagnabbit. Oh well, the point still stands.
This post was edited on 8/17/17 at 8:32 am
Posted on 8/17/17 at 8:32 am to LSUBoo
The problem is that these plastics are throughout the water column. This isn't simply bags and bottles floating on the surface.
Posted on 8/17/17 at 8:34 am to CAD703X
quote:
i know its gross and unsightly, but is plastic actually any type of hazard? does it leach chemicals into the water or just kind of sit there..forever.
Well...considering it is ingested by many animals (fish, birds, turtles, etc.), whether confusing it for good or inadvertently consuming it, it's a big problem.
Edit: there are issues with microplastic beads from face washes getting into waterways and found in freshwater fishes (and probably elsewhere).
This post was edited on 8/17/17 at 8:38 am
Posted on 8/17/17 at 8:34 am to Bmath
quote:
The problem is that these plastics are throughout the water column. This isn't simply bags and bottles floating on the surface.
Then... would there be a way to use a vortex or something similar to bring trash to the surface to be collected?
Like I said, it would have to be adapted to use in the Gulf or any open ocean, but the concept already exists.
Posted on 8/17/17 at 8:35 am to CAD703X
quote:
i know its gross and unsightly, but is plastic actually any type of hazard?
It has been shown that very small particles of plastic are taken up by oysters and then passed on to humans that consume them. This also reduces the fertility of oysters.
Posted on 8/17/17 at 8:36 am to goofball
Considering it takes about 1000 years for plastic to break down in a landfill, I'd say it's going to be there a while.
Posted on 8/17/17 at 8:36 am to Bmath
And they've reported that much of this plastic is so small (particle size) that you need finer filtration to catch it.
Posted on 8/17/17 at 8:40 am to CAD703X
quote:
is plastic actually any type of hazard?
YES
Posted on 8/17/17 at 8:41 am to LSUBoo
quote:
Then... would there be a way to use a vortex or something similar to bring trash to the surface to be collected? Like I said, it would have to be adapted to use in the Gulf or any open ocean, but the concept already exists.
Not without disrupting planktonic organisms. Doing such could have an impact on fish larvae.
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