Plastic Pollution In Oceans: WWF rings alarm

Plastic has infiltrated all parts of the ocean and is now found "in the smallest plankton up to the largest whale" wildlife group WWF said yesterday, calling for urgent efforts to create an international treaty on plastics.

Tiny fragments of plastic have reached even the most remote and seemingly-pristine regions of the planet: it peppers Arctic sea ice and has been found inside fish in the deepest recesses of the ocean, the Mariana Trench.

There is no international agreement in place to address the problem, although delegates meeting in Nairobi for a UN environment meeting this month are expected to launch talks on a worldwide plastics treaty.

According to some estimates, between 19 and 23 million tonnes of plastic waste is washed into the world's waterways every year, the WWF report said.

"In many places (we are) reaching some kind of saturation point for marine ecosystems, where we're approaching levels that pose a significant threat," said Eirik Lindebjerg, Global Plastics Policy Manager at WWF.

In some places there is a risk of "ecosystem collapse", he said.

Many people have seen images of seabirds choking on plastic straws or turtles wrapped in discarded fishing nets, but he said the danger is across the entire marine food web. It "will affect not only the whale and the seal and the turtle, but huge fish stocks and the animals that depend on those", he added.