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Articles on marine debris

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Indonesia announced ‘war against marine plastic debris’ in 2016 as a recent study dubbed the country as the second largest waste producer in the world. www.shutterstock.com

Indonesia needs more research on how plastic waste in the ocean impact marine life. Here’s why

Indonesia is struggling to keep its waste from the oceans. The government has announced ambitious plan to curb plastic waste. However, lack of research to support the policy.
Delegates at this week’s marine science conference in Fremantle take a plastic-free coffee break. Alicia Sutton/AMSA

We organised a conference for 570 people without using plastic. Here’s how it went

This year’s national conference of the Australian Marine Science Association is a plastic-free zone, as marine scientists aim to reduce the environmental burden of throwaway plastic.
Plastic bags, balloons, and rope fragments were among more than 100 pieces of plastic in the gut of a single turtle. Qamar Schuyler

How much plastic does it take to kill a turtle? Typically just 14 pieces

Autopsies of 1,000 turtles washed up on Australian beaches paint a grim picture of the impact of plastic debris. Even a single piece can be deadly, and on average 14 pieces equals a 50% fatality rate.
The researchers found nearly 38 million pieces of plastic rubbish on Henderson Island, in one of the remotest parts of the ocean. Jennifer Lavers

This South Pacific island of rubbish shows why we need to quit our plastic habit

Plastics pose a major threat to seabirds and other animals, and most don’t ever break down - they just break up. Every piece of petrochemical-derived plastic ever made still exists on the planet.
Rubbish strewn on beaches eventually ends up in one of the world’s giant ocean garbage patches. Vberger/Wikimedia Commons

Redrawing the map could reveal ocean garbage patch culprits

Most of us have littered at one time or another, and in the process we probably contributed to the enormous of amounts of plastic that enter the ocean every year, eventually ending up in one of the five…
No matter how well a country like New Zealand protects its borders, introduced species will sneak in. Queensland University of Technology

A hitchhiker’s ride to New Zealand: alien voyages by sea and air

Historically, geographically, culturally – there are many points of comparison between Australia and its neighbour to the east, New Zealand. But there are notable differences. This week, The Conversation…

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