LET'S HEAR IT FOR PLASTIC RESISTANCE!! Action Plan & World Environment Day

MMIRC took part in celebrating World Environment Day couple of weeks ago (June of 5th, Common Wealth Park). Plastic has been highlighted as one of the biggest environmental threats facing the world by the UN.

In the end, this World Environment Day was so much more than we could have imagined. We were blown away by the interest of children about plastic pollution and how to make our dolphin population safe. We gave multiple talks with topics such as Cetacean interactions with macro-plastic and #KnowHowToDriveAroundDolphins. Viewing dolphins in their natural habitat is an educational and enriching experience if done safely and responsibly. As human interactions with wild dolphins increase, the risk of disturbing or injuring them also increases. Below are some important do’s and don’ts to remember when viewing dolphins.

But let's go back to our main topic: Plastic Resistance! For past years we have carried study of cetacean interaction with macro litter. Increased abundance of macro litter in marine environment and the threat it poses to marine biodiversity is becoming a growing global concern. The two main impacts of macro litter on cetaceans are ingestion and entanglement. Ingestion of macro litter may be lethal for cetaceans in form of blockage of the digestive tract followed by starvation; and entanglement can cause drowning, suffocation or strangulation. The interaction of macro litter can have also sub-lethal effects, such as reduced feeding and digestion, disease, physical injuries, decreased reproductive output, repressed growth and shortened life span. Cetaceans also use macro litter as a tool for social interaction and as an object of curiosity, which may result in either its ingestion or in its entanglement.

As much as plastic can seem convenient at the time, we need to think that it lasts a lifetime in the marine environment, causing death and destruction to all that resides there. With parts of the ocean now holding more plastic than plankton, our entire ecosystem is under threat. Losing food, recreation and the oxygen giving qualities of the ocean will impact

every single one of us.

We came across really nice action plan to join the plastic resistance from Surfers Against Sewage, that we would like to share with you:

Plan and boycott throwaway plastics. Making simple changes to the way you live improves our environment!