On a boat near Costa Rica, a team of marine biologists(海洋生物学家) is helping a turtle. The animal is having trouble breathing, and the team discovers why — there is something inside its nose. A scientist tries to extract the object, but the turtle cries in pain. Finally, after another eight minutes, a long object turns up and is seen clearly: it is a 10-centimeter plastic straw.
The video of the turtle's rescue(救援) has been viewed millions of times on YouTube. It has helped raise awareness of a growing problem: The world's seas are full of plastic. Since 2000, there has been a huge increase in worldwide plastic production, but we recycle less than one-fifth of it. A lot of this plastic waste ends up in the ocean. Today, scientists think about 8.1 billion kilograms goes into the sea every year from coastal regions. Most of this plastic will never biodegrade(生物降解), or they will take hundreds of years to biodegrade, which can be harmful to the environment.
This ocean plastic hurts millions of sea animals every year. Some fish eat plastic because it is covered with sea plants, and it looks and smells like food. Typically, eating plastic leads to constant hunger. "Imagine you ate lunch and then just felt weak .... and hungry all day.", says marine biologist Matthew Savoca. "That would be very confusing." In some cases, eating sharp pieces of plastic can seriously hurt sea animals and even result in death.
Plastic is useful to people because it is strong and lasts a long time — but this is bad news for sea creatures who eat or get stuck in it. In light of Savoca, "Single-use plastics are the worst." These are items that are used only once before we throw them away. Some common examples include straws, water bottles, and plastic bags. About 700 sea species (including the turtle from the video) have been caught in or have eaten this kind of plastic. Luckily, the turtle survived and was released back into the ocean.
How will plastic affect sea animals in the long term? "I think we'll know the answers in 5 to 10 years'time," says Debra Lee Magadini from Columbia University. But by then, another 25 million tons of plastic will already be in the ocean.
