Rachel T. -- This article is basically talking about the increasing amount of plastic waste in the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch.” Each year, as much as 150,000 tons of plastic debris is found on Japan’s shores. For many years, scientists just thought that the plastic was just a hazard to marine life that get caught in the plastic or eat the waste. But recently, it has been found that, as plastic decomposes into the ocean, it releases harmful toxins that animals and plant life in the sea absorb somewhat unconsciously. Scientists have discovered that these toxins don’t really decompose after digestion. But they can still harm the organism in very serious ways. Mostly the toxins harm the reproductive and hormone systems inside the organism’s body.
This article reminds me of Happy Feet the movie, where the ‘all powerful’ penguin gets caught in the plastic coke holder. It really makes me think about what I am doing with all the plastic that goes to waste in my house. I think this article relates to biology a lot because it refers to how we, as humans, are in a way, killing our planet. We go about our days not paying any attention to the world around us. In reality, I think we should all be more concerned about our ‘Interaction with the Environment.’ Also, if the toxins released by the plastic that we throw away are hazardous to many organisms’ reproduction systems, then we can be sure that many marine species are going to be depleted in the very near future. We, as Americans especially, need to be more aware and to help in any way we can to stop the ‘Great Pacific Garbage Patch’ from growing!
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