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Investigative Field Essay

Sydney Garber

Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Science, Florida State University

ENC 2135: Research, Genre, and Context

Prof. Melissa Clairjeune

February 12, 2021

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Most people think reducing and recycling is pointless, but have you ever thought of what

happens to that plastic water bottle after it is thrown out? It ends up in our oceans, interrupting

animal’s habitats. My field of study is environmental science and I chose this major because I am

passionate about conserving our earth and its resources. I think it is very important for us humans

to be concerned about the damage we are doing to our home. The discourse community I am

researching would be the department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric science. Most people in

this field do attend graduate school and I plan on doing the same. I am not yet very involved in

the community, but I would like to be, and I think writing this paper will help introduce me. Our

oceans are one of our most valuable natural resources and they are being filled with pollutants

and plastic waste. Plastic waste is killing marine life, like sea turtles, and taking their habitats

every day, but there are some small things that people can do to help, like recycling, cutting

down on single use plastics, and supporting companies and campaigns that care about the earth.

It is important to understand why plastic waste is building up, knowing how it is damaging

ecosystems, and learning how to cut down on use of plastic waste. There are things that can be

done to help the issue at hand, but people need to start now.

First, we all know that humans greatly rely on plastic materials and single use plastics.

Just think about your daily life, are people using plastic water bottles? What packaging material

are products in? These are examples of single use plastics. They will never be used again and sit

in our landfills or oceans to try to decompose for the next hundreds of years. Plastics make up a

large part of human's waste, as stated in The United States’ contribution of plastic waste to land

and ocean, "The U.S. EPA determined that, in 2016, plastics represented 13.1% of total MSW

[municipal solid waste] generation." (Law 2020) Paper products and food are the only waste

producing a higher percentage. The bad part about this large percentage, is that plastic takes the
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longest to degrade. For instance, every plastic water bottle a person has used and thrown away in

their lifetime will still be in the ocean by the time they die. According to Whiting in This is How

Long Everyday Plastic Items Last in the Ocean, plastic bottles may take up to 450 years to fully

degrade. That is a very long time when you consider how many plastic bottles are used daily.

The issue is, the breaking-down of plastic is not near as fast as the production and usage of the

product.

Plastics in the ocean can be very damaging to marine life and their habitats. Waste from

water bottles, packaging, and other single use plastics invade ecosystems and animals can get

caught in them or ingest them thinking they are prey. Ingesting plastic is not good for any animal

and getting caught in it could prevent them from being able to eat. "Ingestion of plastics by birds

and turtles is extensively documented worldwide and at least 44% of marine bird species are

known to ingest plastics” (Andaray 2011). New research shows us just how damaging these

small plastics moving through the food chain could be to turtle hatchlings. In a particular study

on turtle hatchlings described in the journal Plastic Ingestion in Post-hatchling Sea Turtles:

Assessing a Major Threat in Florida Near Shore Waters, “Necropsies revealed abundant

numbers of plastic fragments ranging from 0.36 to 12.39 mm in size (length), recovered from the

GI tracts of 39 of the 42 animals (92.86%), with GI burdens ranging from 0 to 287 fragments

with a mass of up to 0.33 g per turtle. Post-hatchlings weighed from 16.0 to 47.59 g yielding a

plastic to body weight percentage of up to 1.23%.” (Eastman 2020) This study shows just how

much plastic can be found in a turtle hatchling, not a full-grown sea turtle. Almost all the

hatchlings had plastic fragments in their digestive systems. These plastics are known to interfere

with digestion in turtles. Small plastics are very dangerous to turtles and marine life in general.

Plastics are not ending up in our oceans from only consumers, but, "About 18% of the marine
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plastic debris found in the ocean environment is attributed to the fishing industry." (Andrady

2011). Waste from fishing materials can be left abandoned with marine life still being trapped in

them and not being able to escape. This is an issue because fisherman are not going back to

retrieve these abandoned traps or nets, leaving animals to die with no cause.

Large plastic waste is not the only issue in our oceans, there are dangerous microplastics.

They can result from the degradation of plastics or from plastics made a smaller size, like

microbeads. Because of their small size, marine life are more likely to ingest a microplastic.

According to the scientific journal A Review of the Production, Recycling and Management of

Marine Plastic Pollution, these particles can be dangerous to the ecosystem by breaking down

smaller and eventually being released as carbon dioxide into the atmosphere or entering the food

web through organisms. Microplastics are a similar size to plankton, so they can be consumed by

smaller animals and easily move up the food chain. Plankton can also have pollutants and

microplastics in them, "Especially with plankton species with a very small body mass, the

quantity of POPs [persistent organic pollutants] delivered via saturated microparticles could have

a significant toxicological impact." (Andrady 2011). Because plankton is at the bottom of the

food chain, if they are highly saturated with microplastics, these contaminants can move up the

food chain and find their way to digestive tracts of larger animals. There have been studies about

the effects of microplastics in the digestive systems of organisms, but we are still unsure of the

long term affects. Microplastics can tear up inner stomach lining of animals and this could cause

a rift in the food chain (Andrady 2011). If animals begin to die because of plastics in their

digestive systems, already endangered animals are likely to go extinct. All of these are multiple

reasons why plastics are very harmful to the ocean’s ecosystem. There are many more reasons

and more long-term effects will develop along with further research.
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People in the discourse community of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric science have done

studies and their own research on plastic pollution and how it is affecting our oceans. In an

interview with a graduate student in the community, Kristen Sella, she discussed her concern

with plastic waste in marine ecosystems and how plastic is filling our oceans. When asked if she

does anything in her daily life to help, she says, “My family uses reusable shopping bags and we

have reusable straws and have our own reusable water bottles that we refill from the fridge or

from drinking fountains. We take part in coastal cleanups as well to remove waste that way. I

know that there is a lot more we could be doing. We recycle, but I don't think that is as effective

as reducing the waste in the first place. We also compost to reduce our other waste.” (Sella 2021)

Coastal cleanups and reusable materials are a great way to help prevent the problem firsthand

and try to clean the problem after. Sella also stresses that although people can do their part to

help, “It is going to take more than work at the individual level. It is important to support

candidates that will institute policy that reduces waste and pollution at a higher level.” It is

important for people to understand that they can do what they can to help individually, but

supporting candidates and using your vote and voice is a great way to advocate for change.

People in power and politics can make a huge difference for the lives of these marine animals.

Dr. Mariana Fuentes, a professor in the discourse community, also agrees that cutting down on

plastic waste and recycling would be a great help to our ocean’s environment. In an interview

with Dr. Fuentes, she wanted to stress that debris and plastics take a long time to decompose, so

it is important to try and use other materials than single use plastics. Dr. Fuentes' research

focuses on sea turtles and she has done research on microplastics in marine turtle nesting sites. In

one research article, she studied the ten most important nesting sites for Northern Gulf of Mexico

Loggerhead Recovery Unit. In this study, "Sand samples were obtained at each nesting site
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during the 2017 nesting season and analyzed for abundance and characteristics of microplastic.

Microplastic was found at all sites, with an average abundance of 61.08 ± 34.61 pieces/m2, and

59.9% located at the dunes, where turtles primarily nest." (Beckwith and Fuentes 2018). This

research shows that microplastics are found even in nesting sites of turtles, not just being

ingested by organisms in the ocean. Microplastics can be found in animals before they even

reach the ocean, causing the microplastics to continue to move through the food chain.

People are the reason behind loads of plastic waste ending up in our oceans. Although

some people may not see themselves as making as much of an impact on pollution as say large

companies, there are still things you can do to help prevent plastic pollution. Cutting down the

use of single-use plastics and replacing those with reusable products could greatly help the

buildup of plastics in our oceans. For the plastics and other wastes people cannot avoid, it is very

important to see if these products are recyclable. As stated in 10 Ways to Reduce Plastic

Pollution, "For example, less than 14 percent of plastic packaging is recycled. Confused about

what can and can’t go in the bin? Check out the number on the bottom of the container. Most

beverage and liquid cleaner bottles will be #1 (PET), which is commonly accepted by most

curbside recycling companies. Containers marked #2 (HDPE; typically slightly heavier-duty

bottles for milk, juice, and laundry detergent) and #5 (PP; plastic cutlery, yogurt and margarine

tubs, ketchup bottles) are also recyclable in some areas." (Engler 2016). If there is any confusion

on what other products can be recycled, people can research what is recyclable in their area on a

recycling directory found at [Link]. There are other ways you could help besides just

cutting down on your plastic use. As mentioned in, 10 Ways to Reduce Plastic Pollution, people

can purchase secondhand items, support companies that use sustainable packaging, and stop

purchasing products with plastic microbeads. These plastic microbeads can be very harmful
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because they will become microplastics much faster than a typical plastic product. Microbeads

can easily be mistaken for food by marine life. Other than making changes personally, people

can advocate for change with your local and federal government. This is very important as laws

and bans on certain products will put pressure on companies to use sustainably. Corporations are

a large source of waste and pollution. There are laws and policies that need to be put into place

so we can save our ocean’s ecosystems.

The dangers of plastic pollution and waste to the ocean ecosystems and marine life are

very prevalent. Plastic waste builds up and takes a long time to break down, but when it does it

becomes dangerous microplastics. As seen in studies with sea turtles, microplastics are even

affecting hatchlings before the turtles grow up. Plastic waste is a large, concerning issue to

marine life and the quality of our oceans, but there are things we can do to help. People can start

small by trying to cut down on using single use plastics and recycling what plastics they do use.

Although it is important for individuals to understand the dangers of plastic waste, it is vital to

vote for and support campaigns that support marine life and the reduction of plastic waste.

People need to get informed and be mindful about where their waste is going and how long it

will stay there. Individuals do have the power to make a change and help save our marine life

and quality of our oceans. Small, easy steps can make a big change. It is vital to do research to

understand the issue, and act on the issue at hand.

References

Andrady, A. (2011, August 1). Microplastics in the marine environment. ScienceDirect.

[Link]

Are there gaps in our understanding of marine plastic pollution? (2020). South African Journal of

Science, 116(5), 1. doi:[Link]

A review of the production, recycling and management of marine plastic pollution.

(2020). Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 8(11), 945.

doi:[Link]

Eastman, C. B. (2020). Plastic Ingestion in Post-hatchling Sea Turtles: Assessing a Major

Threat in Florida Near Shore Waters. Frontiers.

[Link]

Engler, S. (2016, January 5). 10 Ways to Reduce Plastic Pollution. NRDC. [Link]

HYPERLINK "[Link]

pollution".org/stories/10-ways-reduce-plastic-pollution

Fuentes, M. (2021). Email interview.

Fuentes, & Beckwith. (2018, June 1). Microplastic at nesting grounds used by the northern Gulf

of Mexico loggerhead recovery unit. ScienceDirect.

[Link]

Gross, M. (2015). Oceans of plastic waste. Current Biology, 25(3), 93-96.

doi:[Link]
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Law, K. L. (2020, October 1). The United States’ contribution of plastic waste to land and

ocean. Science Advances. [Link]

pdf

Science-Based Solutions to Plastic Pollution, One Earth, Volume 2, Issue 1, 2020, Pages 5-7,

ISSN 2590-3322,[Link] ([Link] HYPERLINK

"[Link] HYPERLINK

"[Link]

rticle/pii/S259033222030004X"[Link]/science/article/pii/S259033222030

004X)

Sella, K. (2021). Email interview.

Whiting, K. (2018, November 2). This is how long everyday plastic items last in the ocean.

World Economic Forum. [Link]

this-is-how-long-everyday-plastic-items-last-in-the-ocean/