ORCA’s Whale Education Month: Marine Litter What is marine litter?
What words come to mind when thinking of whales and dolphins?
But they are in danger…
Activity Sheet: Save Harry the harbour porpoise! Threats Maze Activity Sheet: Save Harry the harbour porpoise!
Threats to whales & dolphins Whaling Bycatch & Overfishing Habitat loss Pollution – marine litter Getting hit by ships
What is Marine Litter? Marine litter is any manmade object lost, discarded, disposed of or abandoned that enters the sea. It may enter the sea from a ship, or from land when washed out to sea via rivers, streams and drains. Humans dump more than 100 million tonnes of rubbish each year into the world’s ocean Marine litter is entirely due to human activity, and therefore it is down to us to stop it!
Where does marine litter come from? Activity Sheet: Land or Sea
20% comes from the sea 80% comes from the land Dropping litter Plastic items being flushed Cigarettes dropped on the floor Overflowing rubbish bins Landfills near rivers/the sea Shocking fact is that most of the litter that ends up in the sea is actually from the land. Every small piece of rubbish we drop on land eventually ends up in the sea. The wind can blow it into the streams/rivers/drains and the rain washes every tiny bit of litter into the streams/rivers/drains and where do these end up? In the sea. Also, all of the plastic that gets put down the toilet – cotton buds & facewipes end up in the sea because they do not get filtered out in our sewage system. Balloon releases
What are the top items found on a beach?
Caps & lids (bottle caps, pen lids) Packets (crisp packets, sweet wrappers) Caps & lids (bottle caps, pen lids) Cotton buds Cigarettes Plastic pieces Cutlery/straws Fishing line/nets Glass Wet wipes
Caps & lids (bottle caps, pen lids) 1. Plastic pieces 2. Packets (crisp packets, sweet wrappers) 3. Glass 4. Cigarettes 5. Caps & lids (bottle caps, pen lids) 6. Wet wipes 7. Cotton buds 8. Fishing line/nets 9. Cutlery/straws
What do most of these items all have in common? They are made of plastic Plastic is a man made material that is made out of a combination of chemicals Plastic is not a natural material Plastic never goes away, it stays in our environment forever So it is very harmful to our environment and the animals that live on our planet
Thank you for taking part in ORCA’s Whale Education Month! Photo: Mark Carwardine