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The Agora => UK & World News => Topic started by: Maik on Friday, 25 May, 2018 @ 21:56:44

Title: Slow death of a loggerhead
Post by: Maik on Friday, 25 May, 2018 @ 21:56:44
Quote
Plastic pollution: Images of a global problem

In its June issue, National Geographic magazine has published a selection of startling photos highlighting the vast amounts of discarded plastic choking the world's oceans, shorelines and rivers.

Wildlife, particularly marine animals, are at risk when they become entangled in plastic waste, or ingest it.


(http://goinggreek.info/gallery/1_25_05_18_9_54_19.jpeg)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-44215881
Title: Re: Slow death of a loggerhead
Post by: U4ea on Saturday, 26 May, 2018 @ 02:39:57
Grrrr!
Title: Re: Slow death of a loggerhead
Post by: TonyD on Saturday, 26 May, 2018 @ 11:16:20
Emotive picture, but would the turtle be any better off if the fishing net was made of a natural material?
Title: Re: Slow death of a loggerhead
Post by: Maik on Saturday, 26 May, 2018 @ 12:19:03
Good question, Tony.

Here's another piccie:

(http://goinggreek.info/gallery/1_26_05_18_12_15_57.jpeg)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-44223255

Less pleasant pics in link above.
Title: Re: Slow death of a loggerhead
Post by: Colleywobble on Saturday, 26 May, 2018 @ 14:40:51
Quote
Plastic pollution: Images of a global problem

In its June issue, National Geographic magazine has published a selection of startling photos highlighting the vast amounts of discarded plastic choking the world's oceans, shorelines and rivers.

Wildlife, particularly marine animals, are at risk when they become entangled in plastic waste, or ingest it.


(http://goinggreek.info/gallery/1_25_05_18_9_54_19.jpeg)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-44215881
These pictures are so sad!
Title: Re: Slow death of a loggerhead
Post by: HiFi on Saturday, 26 May, 2018 @ 14:42:03
I think this is typical of hijacking / jumping on the bandwagon of plastic pollution.
Fishing with nets etc. has gone on for centuries and is not connected to the recycling nonsense that has stopped plastic being buried in the ground or incinerated.
I'm now just waiting for the first coffee shop to seek some publicity and say that they will no longer serve their cappuccinos in fishing nets.
Title: Re: Slow death of a loggerhead
Post by: Maik on Saturday, 26 May, 2018 @ 20:28:07
Ah, yes, that would be a pity...

(http://goinggreek.info/gallery/1_26_05_18_8_26_43.jpeg)
Title: Re: Slow death of a loggerhead
Post by: Maik on Saturday, 09 June, 2018 @ 11:59:58
Emotive picture, but would the turtle be any better off if the fishing net was made of a natural material?

Maybe - for that turtle it depends how old the net is, if it was natural material it might have (sufficiently) rotted away before the turtle was caught up in it. Plastic netting doesn't decompose as quickly as natural materials and keeps killing for years:

Quote
Cleaning the seabed: Divers halt the carnage of ‘ghost’ nets

POROS [Island], Greece - There are ghosts in the ocean. Silent killers carried by the currents, wrapping themselves around reefs and claiming the lives of millions of marine creatures great and small, from sponges and tiny crustaceans to dolphins, sharks and whales.

In their former lives, these ghosts were nets and other fishing gear essential to the livelihoods of millions around the world, and put food on the plates of millions more. But once lost, abandoned or discarded into the sea, these nets continue doing what they were designed to do: catch fish.

Mostly made of strong plastic such as nylon, this lost gear known as ghost nets doesn’t easily decompose.

“They can remain there for hundreds of years and continue fishing,” said Maria Salomidi, environmental researcher at the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research. The trapped fish quickly become bait, attracting larger predators who in turn become entangled themselves.

“And so starts a vicious cycle which … can kill anything from small crustaceans such as crabs and lobsters to large fish, turtles, seals, dolphins,” Salomidi added.
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2018/jun/08/cleaning-the-seabed-divers-halt-the-carnage-of-gho/

Title: Re: Slow death of a loggerhead
Post by: U4ea on Saturday, 09 June, 2018 @ 18:32:14
I think the point is that if next were only natural material many would have already deteriorated by now.

By coincidence i was speaking today with an Icelanders who has strong connections to their fishing industry. I asked him if plastic nets could or should be banned. Simply like most other things it's a matter of costs. There are more durable and so don't need to be repaired and they also are cheaper to start with.

I asked why the fishermen don't have to notify authorities about lost/discarded nets. Problem is that fishermen are were secretive about some exact fishing spots and don't want to reveal them. Coastguards know where they are, and can track them, but don't know catch figures at any given spot.