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Mediterranean Sea 'accumulating zone of plastic debris'
April 2, 2015
Mediterranean Sea 'accumulating zone of plastic debris'
By Helen Briggs
BBC Environment correspondent
Large quantities of plastic debris are building up in the Mediterranean Sea, say scientists.
A survey found around one thousand tonnes of plastic floating on the surface, mainly fragments of bottles, bags and wrappings.
The Mediterranean Sea's biological richness and economic importance means plastic pollution is particularly hazardous, say Spanish researchers.
Plastic has been found in the stomachs of fish, birds, turtles and whales.
Very tiny pieces of plastic have also been found in oysters and mussels grown on the coasts of northern Europe.
"We identify the Mediterranean Sea as a great accumulation zone of plastic debris," said Andres Cozar of the University of Cadiz in Puerto Real, Spain, and colleagues.
"Marine plastic pollution has spread to become a problem of planetary scale
after only half a century of widespread use of plastic materials, calling for urgent management strategies to address this problem."
Plastic is accumulating in the Mediterranean Sea at a similar scale to that in oceanic gyres, the rotating ocean currents in the Indian Ocean, North Atlantic, North Pacific, South Atlantic and South Pacific, the study found.
A high abundance of plastic has also been found in other seas, including the Bay of Bengal, South China Sea and Barents Sea in the Arctic Ocean.
Read more at BBC News.
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