WSPA Organises Marine Debris Symposium for December 2012

16/08/2012 at 4:34 pm · Filed under Animal Cruelty, Conservationist Action, Disposal of Waste, Non-Atmospheric Pollution, Wildlife and tagged: Animal Welfare, Cayman Islands, Ed Scott-Clarke, Entanglement, Marine Debris, Plastic Shores, USA, WSPA

Sea Lion entangled in marine debris, copyright Marcia Moreno-Baez, Marine Photobank

The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) has organised the world’s first symposium dedicated to how animal welfare is affected by entanglement in marine debris. Arranged between the 4th to the 6th of December this year in Miami, Florida, the symposium differs from other marine debris conferences as it looks specifically at the problem from an animal welfare perspective. Marine debris, particularly plastic pollution, causes numerous problems in the world’s oceans, several of which cause the death of aquatic species. The UN has estimated that around 100,000 marine mammals and 1 million seabirds die every year because of entanglement and ingestion of marine debris, although accurate figures are impossible to calculate. A commonly cited example of how this happens is with turtles mistaking floating plastic bags for jellyfish. The bag then either suffocates the turtle, or causes its stomach to produce excessive amounts of digestive gases so that the creature ends up floating to the sea’s surface, unable to dive for food thereby dying of starvation.

Whale entangled in derelict fishing line, copyright Alberto Dario Romeo, Marine Photobank

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