EDGEWATER, MARYLAND — Just when you thought humans couldn’t screw up Earth’s oceans more if they tried, along comes a bunch of dangerous organisms that have learned to thrive on the floating continents of trash that are forming in our oceans.
The Guardian reports that researchers have found that coastal species are forming colonies on the floating masses of plastic trash that are filling up our oceans.
Species that previously had no way of crossing oceans are now doing so, using floating trash islands as a way to survive ocean crossings and devastating coastal species all over the world.
Researchers have now also coined a term for these drifters — “neopelagic communities." These are seafaring colonies of anemones, brittle stars, shrimps, barnacles and more, which are thriving on plastic in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and washing up wherever the currents take them.
Researchers say this is not just a problem for the coastal species they destroy, but these floating colonies also lure in animals that eat them, like fish, turtles, dolphins and whales.
When these ocean animals hunt for food among the pieces of floating plastic and matted fishing nets, they often end up dying from ingesting plastic — or from getting trapped in the non-biodegradable mess.
And even if you ignore all the ecological problems that plastic trash is causing, there are few people who don’t have the ability to love the magic of pure nature, and few who are not deeply offended by seeing plastic trash washed up on a pristine beach.