プラごみ海洋汚染　米ＮＧＯ、過去１０年間の動物への被害を報告

【ワシントンＡＦＰ＝時事】大量のプラスチック袋をのみ込み、それが胃の中でメロン大のボールとなって死んだマナティー。小さなプラスチック片で内臓に穴が開いたカメの赤ちゃん──。米国沿岸では2009年以降、1800匹の海洋哺乳類やカメがプラスチックの犠牲になったと、海洋保護団体が19日に公開した報告書で発表した。（写真はフィリピン・マニラの浜辺、資料写真）
　ＮＧＯ「オセアナ」は、米国の海洋動物が過去１０年間に受けた、プラスチック汚染の累積的な影響を調べた。
　その被害は鳥類や魚類を含めて９００種以上に及び、このうちの多くが絶滅の危機にひんしているか、将来その恐れがあるという。
　調査では、体内にプラスチックを取り込んでいたカメの約２０％が赤ちゃんだった。
　最大の被害をもたらすプラスチックの発生源の特定は困難だ。浜辺に放置された使い捨て製品、密閉化が不十分なごみ処理場、そして船舶から投棄される輸出廃棄物まで、考えられる原因は多岐にわたる。
　解決策となり得るのはこういった問題の改善はもちろん、プラスチックごみの連鎖をたどり、何より人々がプラスチック製品への依存度と消費量を減らすことにあると、同団体は指摘している。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/11/20-13:17）

A dead manatee in Florida was found to have swallowed so many plastic bags they formed a cantaloupe-sized ball in its stomach, while a baby turtle had its intestines perforated by tiny plastic fragments.
They are some of 1,800 marine mammals and turtles found to have ingested or been entangled by plastic along American coastlines since 2009, according to a report from conservation NGO Oceana published Thursday.
The group's report attempts to describe the cumulative impact of plastic pollution on marine fauna in the United States in the last decade, despite growing recycling practices.
Researchers found the most-ingested objects found were fishing line, plastic sheeting, bags, balloons and food wrappers, while packing straps, bags and balloons with ribbon were most responsible for entanglement incidents.
More than 900 species, including birds and fish, are affected, many of which are found on endangered or threatened lists, according to Oceana.
US laws require such incidents to be recorded when possible, but Oceana found the data was apparently not compiled until the NGO itself started asking public agencies to do the work.
- 'Suffocated by plastic' -
There are many more cases that probably weren't observed or recorded, the study's lead author and Oceana scientist Kimberly Warner told AFP.
But even though it is not exhaustive, the group still hopes the report can help to change people's behavior.
This is a problem on our shores, and it should be a catalyst to get people to act now to stem the tide of plastic going into the ocean, Warner said.
Among the turtles found to have ingested plastic, 20 percent were babies.
Just moments after they break in their shell, on their first journey to the ocean, they're already eating plastic that is on our beaches, Warner said.
Internal blockages caused by the plastic can prevent animals from being able to eat, which is often what ends up ultimately killing them.
Sometimes a ring of plastic gets caught around their necks and as they grow bigger they slowly suffocate.
They can end up constricting or cutting off their airway so that they can't breathe, Warner explained.
And sometimes the weight of things that are entangling animals doesn't allow them to go to the surface to breathe.
It is difficult to establish which sources of plastic contribute the most: from single-use items blown from beaches into the water to poorly sealed landfills and exported waste that falls from ships -- there are lots of ways for this pollution to end up in the ocean.
The solution likely lies at better management of those three issues, but also further up the plastic waste chain, at reducing our own dependence on and consumption of plastic products.
Companies have wrapped everything in plastic now, Warner said.