Dustbin in the Pacific. By T.C.Evamay ©2009. 

Just what is a Dustbin?  The dictionary definition describes it as ‘a receptacle, usually cylindrical, to hold and retain trash.’  Perhaps you consider it to be the green wheelie bin your household has to place on the pavement each week or fortnight for collection.  Or perhaps the old fashioned ‘can’ style drum with the tin lid and requisite dents.  While we might assess both of these to be correct, it is unlikely that most of us would consider the mighty Pacific Ocean as a dustbin.  Sadly however, it is exactly that. 

 
A few years ago I moved to Hawaii; the fruits of my labour in California’s Silicon Valley working all hours under the sun – and the moon too sometimes.  I was romanced by the palm trees, tropical beaches, warm blue waters, cool breezes and of course, the occasional Mai-Tai!  A decision never to be regretted on my part and today I spend my time equally between my homes in England and Hawaii.  “Can life get any better?”  I ask.  It appears the answer is “No,” in fact it appears to be getting worse. 

Natural flowing currents in the Pacific form a phenomenon known as the ‘North Pacific Sub-tropical Gyre.’  These currents continuously circle the North Pacific between Japan and the USA gradually diminishing in radii until they converge upon the islands of Hawaii and Midway, a small atoll on the North Western tip of the Hawaiian archipelago, approximately one third of the distance between Honolulu and Tokyo

The whole Hawaiian  island chain is affected by the gyre, but Kure and Midway are wildlife sanctuaries and administered by the US Fish and Wildlife Service
 

Midway is a National Wildlife Refuge administered by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), but is probably best known for the World War II battle of the same name in which the US Navy famously repelled Japanese efforts to invade the islands.  Sadly, today an arguably larger battle is taking place; one in which consumers from both Japan and America are the aggressors and their weapon is trash.  The modern day defenders are the local populace and volunteers from around the world - mainly from Hawaii.

Yes, trash; plastic bags with the logos of well know superstores from Asia and North America; discarded fishing lines and plastic storage tubs; fast food wrappings and milk containers; tampons and condoms; fishing floats and nets, and so on and so on.  In all, some 100 millions tons of trash and debris circulate in the currents of the North Pacific of which it is estimated that 80% comes from land-based sources and 20% from ships at sea.  It is further estimated that currents carry debris from the east coast of Asia to the centre of the vortex in about a year, and debris from the west coast of North America takes about five years.
 

The impact of this floating trash upon Wildlife is nothing short of tragic.  The Midway Islands are home to many of the world’s endangered species and all are at risk from choking, starving, or drowning as a result of the debris drifting towards, and collecting at, the tiny coral atoll in the North Pacific Ocean.

The effects upon Sea Turtles and Albatross is arguably greatest - turtles with their paddles trapped in plastic bags swim in circles, the bag acting as a sea anchor.  Some manage to struggle exhausted onto the atoll only to have the bag snag under an oil drum or such like; young turtles with plastic cable ties encircling their small bodies grow to adulthood with an hourglass shape as the cable tie strangles their shell during growth.


copyright T.Harvey www.seaturtlefoundation.org

As an air breathing sea goer, this sea turtle got caught in a cable tie.  As the creature grew, the cable tie didn’t.

Approximately one third of the chicks of the almost two million albatross living here die each year as a result of being mistakenly fed plastic bottle tops, tampons, and cigarette lighters by their parents.  Undernourished, they lack the strength to fly and fend for themselves and so starve to death; a death caused by our life style and without ever being given their chance of life.  When we see a discarded cigarette lighter floating just below the surface of the ocean, we see trash.  When an Albatross sees the same item, it sees squid, the mariner’s friend’s favourite food (see below).

Found on the atoll of Midway, the remains of this Albatross chick have been picked clean by scavengers.  They left the undigested plastic bottle top and cigarette lighter.  I wonder why?

Even the mighty Humpback whale is not immune to 21st century lifestyles.  In the 19th and early 20th centuries the weapon of consumerism was the harpoon, today it is the plastics our lifestyle commits to the ocean; plastic nets that cut into their flesh and make it almost impossible for them to feed.

In short, upwards of a million seabirds, tens of thousands of marine mammals and an impossibly high number of fish die agonisingly each year because they either mistakenly eat the waste of our convenience culture, or are ensnared in it and eventually drown.  Plastic items not washed up onto the beach are eventually broken down into particulates, which resemble zooplankton and are subsequently mistakenly consumed by jellyfish.

The situation has not escaped the federal authorities either.  The National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has established a Marine Debris Program.  The program currently has two full-time officers in Hawaii, who have been working to bring diverse groups together across the islands, to tackle the problem locally.  Members of staff at Midway’s refuge, together with the welcome and able assistance of volunteers from all over the archipelago, mount regular clean-up operations.



A new swathe of trash and dead wildlife with each tide

The task is huge and thankless and each new tide brings a swathe of new debris; each new tide brings new death as wildlife bodies, entwined in the debris, are washed up too.  The battle is constant and seemingly never ending. 

This however, is a local clean up solution only.  It does not stop the death and destruction and as able and willing as the volunteers are, it has to be recognized that both the problem and solution are global issues and the US Government has to intervene to persuade other Governments to take action – on behalf of the planet.  Without that intervention, a whole ecosystem will eventually be destroyed and there is probably very little time left

In 1942 the battle of Midway was considered one of the most decisive battles of World War II and changed the course of the war in Pacific.  In 2009 a new battle of Midway is being waged.  This new battle has been going on for years, not days, but like its predecessor, much is at stake… arguably even more.  The new battle of Midway must be won, only this one will change the course of mankind.

The next time you are in a supermarket checkout line and are asked ‘Paper or Plastic?’  Think of the Dustbin in the Pacific before you answer. 
 

Photograph  sources: Public Domain
 

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