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Ecology
Continued from p22
grisly deaths from plastic waste - fish, sea turtles, seabirds and marine mammals ingest and get tangled up in plastic - so no matter where we live, we should all try to reduce our plastic usage.
Entering the food chain
Microplastics contain multiple toxic chemicals and are added to plastics in the production to make them flexible and colourful. These include carcinogens, neurotoxins, and endocrine disruptors – chemicals that are believed to interfere with hormones. These chemical particles accumulate in fish and shellfish. When humans eat seafood contaminated with these chemicals, they ingest millions of microplastic particles.
Fighting back
Whilst the current situation is alarming, the good news is that ocean pollution can be controlled and prevented and there are many global organizations fighting the problem, with the support of international corporations and local SMEs. However,
there is a massive task ahead that needs more support of companies, corporations, individuals and governments.
In Gibraltar, The Nautilus Project is a local organization raising marine environmental issues with the public to help craft the changes required for a better future.
Established in 2016, the locally registered charity has promoted awareness and collaborated with local business companies with beach and sea clean-up operations.
Most recently they teamed up with BetVictor to organize two volunteer
events, an ocean clean-up and a beach clean-up. A local dive school, Dive Charters generously provided all the diving equipment free of charge for the ocean clean-up event and the volunteers dived and snorkelled to collect litter from the sea. Disturbingly, in just a couple of
hours ten huge bags of rubbish were collected and this was only in one section of the sea that surrounds Gibraltar.
At the end of the day, for the second event, the beach clean-up, 72kg of rubbish was collected – you get the
picture! Each year to coincide with World
Oceans Day, The Nautilus Project hosts, with the collaboration of the Gibraltar Federation of Small Businesses, the Gibraltar Sustainable Awards.
World Oceans Day is a yearly celebration to raise awareness of the vital importance of our oceans and the role they play in sustaining a healthy planet. It brings organizations and individuals together across the globe in a series of events highlighting how we can all help protect the oceans.
The Gibraltar Sustainable Awards, hosted their 3rd consecutive awards ceremony in June to award local companies, organizations, charities and clubs that have implemented the highest number of green initiatives, including minimising their carbon and plastic footprints.
‘ At current rates plastic is expected to outweigh all the fish in the sea by 2050
To find out more how local and international companies can get involved, please visit:
www.thenautilusproject.co www.theoceancleanup.com
24 Gibraltar International
www.gibraltarinternational.com
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