Have you thought about the fate of a bottle cap once you throw it away? Sometimes, it ends up in a garbage dump, but a large number of them remain in our seas and animals end up suffering.
A video published on Facebook by the Romelia National Wildlife Refuge in Montezuma shows how a man removes a lot of garbage and plastic from the body of a fish. Unfortunately, this is the reality experienced in Costa Rica and in many parts of the world.
Erick Ross, Science Manager of the MarViva Foundation explained to CRHoy.com that the problem with plastic is that animals think it is food and if they eat it, this can lead to obstruction and death.
It’s a pretty worrying video. This confirms that different marine animals confuse plastic with food. The plastic does not melt and can block their intestinal tract, preventing them from consuming food and leading to death by starving,”
explained Ross.
In other places it is common to see the nests of sea birds filled with plastic. Many times the birds confuse plastic with small fish, they grab it, swallow it and take it to the nest to feed the chicks and then they die. We have seen many nests with chicks that starved to death, and what they had in their stomach was plastic,”
said Ross.
The turtles also confuse floating plastic bags with jellyfish and when they consume them by mistake, they get stuck in the digestive tract.
It is estimated that by 2050 the seas will have more plastic than fish. Threfore, the foundation launched the campaign #ChaoPlásticoDesechable (goodbye disposable plastic), which is expected to raise awareness among the population on the importance of not using straws, using cloth bags for purchases, consuming products packed in cardboard or glass, reusing plastic products at home, among other alternatives.