Scientists have found that human garbage has reached even the most inaccessible parts of the ocean floor. Latest wide-scale survey of the ocean floor in Europe indicates that marine pollution has gotten worse.
"This survey has shown that human litter is present in all marine habitats, from beaches to the most remote and deepest parts of the oceans," said Plymouth University associate professor Kerry Howell. "Most of the deep sea remains unexplored by humans and these are our first visits to many of these sites, but we were shocked to find that our rubbish has got there before us."
To conduct the large-scale underwater survey, scientists combed through almost 600 areas of the sea floor off the coast of Europe. The long term survey was conducted over the course of 10 years and the results look grim. The team found everything from glass bottles to discarded fishing gear in most of the surveyed areas. The scientists found evidence of human garbage in a wide variety of different depths ranging from 115 feet (35 meters) in the areas around the Gulf of Lion to 2.8 miles (4.5 kilometers) off the coast of Portugal.
"We found that plastic was the most common litter item found on the seafloor, while trash associated with fishing activities (discarded fishing lines and nets) was particularly common on seamounts, banks, mounds and ocean ridges," said University of Azores researcher Christopher Pham. "The most dense accumulations of litter were found in deep underwater canyons."
Marine debris is a growing problem in the world's oceans. These pollutants can wreak havoc on underwater ecosystems and harm underwater flora and fauna. A wide variety of marine animals including whales, fish and even birds often ingest debris mistaking them for food. Broken bits of netting and fishing line can also damage valuable coral reefs that are vital to many marine ecosystems.
The scientists found man-made ocean debris in all the areas included in the survey. The team also took video footages and photographs of the various debris fields they encountered. In total, the researchers were able to classify the different types of debris that they found into six categories. These categories included glass debris, metal debris, discarded or damaged fishing gear, plastic, clinker and "other." Objects that did not fall into the first five categories were classified under "other." The researchers published their findings in the online journal PLOS ONE.
The team found that plastic garbage made up a large majority of the marine debris in the oceans off the coast of Europe accounting for 41 percent of the problem. This was followed by discarded and damaged fishing gear, which made up around 34 percent of marine debris found in the survey areas.
The survey areas included sites just off the coast of Europe and extended into areas that were up to 1,243 miles (2,000 meters) away from the nearest shore. The survey team found that submarine canyons off the coast had the highest density of garbage. On the other hand higher areas such as ocean ridges and continental shelves showed the lowest levels of garbage density.
