Three in One: No to Marine Debris

Philippines is known to be rich in sustainable bodies of water. However, it is alarming

to hear that an endangered sea cow, a male pygmy sperm whale and a male Olive Ridley turtle
showed up dead in Sarangani shore all in just one month! Reports said that happenings like
these are often due to marine debris. This is why fishing vessels in-charge and even the coastal
communities should be conscious of the measures done not just in the bay, but also through to
all bodies of water. Behavioral change is one way we could help in the conservation and
protection of the lives underwater.

Marine debris is any man-made solid material disposed either intentionally to the seas
and oceans or indirectly through rivers and lakes. Ingestion, entanglement and habitat damage
are just three of the many impacts marine debris could cause. The timeliest case of ingestion is
with the sea turtles which can mistakenly identify debris items as their food. When eaten, these
may cause internal injury, starvation or even death. Additionally, entanglement of any marine
life to nets, ropes and fishing gears can also put their lives at risk. Lastly, these debris items
can either float on the surface or sit on the seafloor, possibly damaging the marine habitats such
as coral reefs and sea grasses, which are essential for their survival.

While there is a lot more problems and issues arising regarding the pollution of our seas
and oceans, and the problem of preventing and lessening wastes is an urgent challenge that we
need to address to maintain the health of our oceans, the marine debris itself is not the problem.
It is us, the people and our lack of consciousness on waste management. We use single-use
plastics, we throw candy wrappers on the streets and we even dump our wastes everywhere.
This, we don’t know, can reach the bodies of water when there is rain or flooding. With our
simple mistakes and carelessness on the disposal of our garbages, we are potentially
contributing to the water pollution or worse, death of marine mammals, depletion of sea grasses
and corals, and the marine environment as a whole. This is why we need ‘behavioral change’.
It focuses on how we act and react on things, especially to the environment. Instead of using
single-use plastic, we can invest in a reusable water bottle; we can avoid products with excess
packaging by buying fresh and local; reusable utensils rather than using disposables. Indeed
soon, our micro efforts will have a macro effect, especially to our oceans.

It is a must to promote behavioral change because information and education is not

enough for a sustainable change, instead it is only one step towards the realization that everyone
should renew the way they do things, especially those that are essential to the conservation of
marine creatures and their habitats by individual efforts and freeing the sea from marine debris.

Bibliography

https://thankyouocean.org/threats/marine-debris/

https://marinedebris.noaa.gov/discover-issue/impacts

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1100603/alarm-raised-as-marine-animals-turn-up-dead-on-
sarangani-shore/amp

WORD COUNT: 493