MBARI’s underwater robots find plastic pollution from the surface to the deep seafloor
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- čas přidán 28. 08. 2024
- Too often, MBARI’s advanced underwater robots encounter trash. Even miles beneath the ocean’s surface we find garbage, much of it plastic. Plastic pollution puts deep-sea animals at risk. On the seafloor, bags and other plastic trash can smother marine life. In the midwater, drifting debris can entangle or choke animals or damage their delicate structures.
Over time plastic trash breaks down into smaller and smaller bits and pieces called microplastic. Microplastics have been found throughout the ocean, from the surface to the seafloor. We still don't understand how microplastics are impacting marine communities. MBARI research is revealing our close connection to the ocean-how it sustains us and how human actions affect marine animals and environments.
To protect the amazing animals of the deep, we need to stem the tide of plastic pollution. Single-use plastic items-like water bottles, takeout containers, coffee lids, straws, and shopping bags-make up a large percent of plastic waste. By refusing plastic packaging and choosing reusable alternatives, we can make a significant dent in ocean plastic pollution.
Learn more about trash in the deep sea: www.mbari.org/...
Learn how you can help from MBARI’s education and conservation partner, the Monterey Bay Aquarium: www.montereyba...
Editor: Kris Walz
Script: Raúl Nava
Narrator: Megan Bassett
Animation: Madeline Go
Science advisors: Kyra Schlining, Nancy Jacobsen Stout, Susan von Thun (MBARI); Margaret Spring (Monterey Bay Aquarium)
Production team: Madeline Go, Larissa Lemon, Kyra Schlining, Nancy Jacobsen Stout, Susan von Thun
Music: Snowfall by Adi Goldstein (Artlist.io)
References:
Choy, C.A., B.H. Robison, T.O. Gagne, B. Erwin, E. Firl, R.U. Halden, J.A. Hamilton, K. Katija, S.E. Lisin, C. Rolsky, and K.S. Van Houtan. 2019. The vertical distribution and biological transport of marine microplastics across the epipelagic and mesopelagic water column. Scientific Reports, 9: 7843. doi.org/10.103...
Katija, K., C.A. Choy, R.E. Sherlock, A.D. Sherman, and B.H. Robison. 2017. From the surface to the seafloor: How giant larvaceans transport microplastics into the deep sea. Science Advances, 3(8): e1700715. doi.org/10.112...
Schlining, K., S. von Thun, L. Kuhnz, B. Schlining, L. Lundsten, N. Jacobsen Stout, L. Chaney, and J. Connor. 2013. Debris in the deep: Using a 22-year video annotation database to survey marine litter in Monterey Canyon, Central California, USA. Deep-Sea Research I, 79: 96-105. doi.org/10.101...
Reducing is so important, 20 years ago I decided to make an effort to minimize my microplastic footprint, I've stopped so many people from releasing balloons, spreading glitter, tossing plastic, we used to go on stoner walks and pick up plastic while smoking doobies, good times.
0:35 Anemones: its free real estate
Unfortunately it's become all too common and the food chain goes all the way up to the largest of creatures including our own. Record pollutants released by water companies doesn't help the situation either. Please continue the great work MBARI and those involved keeping us informed.
This was a heart-breaking watch. It's one thing to know it's happening and another to see it happening.
Has the MBARI team collected some of this trash? Some of it looked like it needed to be removed in a more complex manner or couldn't because it had been used as a site for animals to attach. And also, are the details of these sites being logged for future clean-up attempts?
During research expeditions, we occasionally retrieve trash from the deep sea. However, removing such debris on a large scale is prohibitively expensive, and can sometimes do more damage than simply leaving it in place.
@@MBARIvideo That is what I thought, plus the submersibles can only do so much per trip.
Thank you for the reply!
Very sad situation. Interesting to hear the phrase "snot palace".
lol i thought the same thing
Those Gatorade bottles are extra thick and must last a long time. weird to see so much debris that a person may think will just float sitting on the Ocean floor.
Thank you for the research and work with bringing the knowledge and insights to the public.
That’s sad, for real this needs to become a documentary and needs to be featured on the news. The kids in my neighborhood drop there trash everywhere without a care
I am not surprised to see the plastic remains , I totally agree that less plastic should be made and used . Instead we should be refilling containers and using glass and most of all not polluting this wonderful planet Earth that we all live on . 🐙🐡🐠❤
Heartbreaking and depressing.
On my trip to Japan I went to a beach, from all the things I could find, a good 5-8% was plastic pieces/things... it was so sad. The worst part? It wasn't probably originating from Japan either...
And? How about the irreparable damage they've done to the ocean because of Fukushima?
@@clausvonthunderclaws8706 Bro stop smoking
Or pass it on 🤠
i really hope we find some way to break down microplastics, espescially in the deep ocean
Reminder that the fishing industry accounts for the majority of ocean plastic polloution and that paying people to trawl for ghost nets etc. is actually very effective. Making individual consumers (who often don't have a choice) feel bad that everything is wrapped in/made of plastic is awareness raising of a sort, but will generally have a limited effect and leave the public open to opportunistic greenwashers. Maybe suggest beach cleans and encouraging small-scale recycling plants to local polititians rather than shipping everything to the exploited end of Indonesia, for instance.
I'd be happy if even a fraction of the plastic that new products come packed in was replaced with paper. Buy a new widget, it comes in a plastic container, and then inside that container the product itself is often in a chewy plastic bag. Why? Then there's the misguided idea of eliminating paper wrapped plastic straws with plastic wrapped paper ones (that suck).
2:04 "LOVE YOU" ???
1:04 "at risk". What does it even mean to have undefined risk? The plastic bag at 0:35 is a reef so they're at risk of deep reef? Or? What?
2:02 ...unbenownst to this ILoveYou jelly, it was was about to float over an octopus' garden!
мы все умрем!
Wow😮
Thank you, thank you, thank you, for pointing the spotlight on this issue ❤ The footage is enlightening and horrifying at the same time, revealing the interdependences we have to deal with.
Wow... 😧
artefact 😢
and how do we ensure that we use less plastic?
we make sure that it is no longer profitable to produce it.
how do we do that?
make the producers pay to clean up the mess they have made.
in this socio-economic system, once something no longer produces profit,
it's toast.
this one is safe one Alien
😢😢😢
As long as you have third-world countries throwing all their garbage into rivers, or dumping it at sea, you are going to have problems. It's staggering how even in my remote location in Australia, I find so much garbage on the beach with foreign writing upon it, apparently dumped from ships !
F
All so beautiful but how's about capturing the plastics?
Sadly, the ones who need to hear this don't care. They lack the foresight to understand how this will effect them and as long as they feel no immediate repercussions they will continue.
In every video of every distinguished dee-sea exploration institute, this human disgrace should be shown! What a horrible sight... 😞