BRUTAL Ways Plastic is Killing Wildlife | Pet Spot Subscribe to Pet Spot 👉 https://bit.ly/3B0qTJO WATCH NEXT 👇 Without These Animals We’d All Be Doomed | Pet Spot https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ex-iJGq2d3A For any copyright issues please contact us at: yteekiwi@gmail.com In this day and age, we know how harmful plastics are to the environment. Kids learn about it in school and we can’t seem to avoid the “go green” movement. It’s no lie that plastics can destroy ecosystems and hurt animals, but what might not be known by everyone is how deep this destruction goes. It is much more than just saving the turtles. It’s about saving all the living creatures on this planet collectively. Plastic lasts a long time, it won’t be going away anytime soon. But we can’t say the same about life on earth. So let’s explore the impact of this man-made mess. Let’s start off with a bit of a horrifying fact: every year, 400 million tons of plastic are produced. And of these 400 million tons, 14 million tons end up in the ocean. Out of all of the debris found in the ocean, 80 percent of it consists of plastic waste. And this isn’t just found on the surface, it also sinks below the surface and gets mixed into the deep-sea sediments. Plastic was invented way back in 1907, but it became mass produced after the second world war. The 1960’s and 1970s saw a rise in consumer demand for this new synthetic and cheap material. But since it isn’t all too durable, it easily gets tossed out. Litter consisting of plastic is especially dangerous, as it can end up lost in the natural habitats. There are two types of plastic waste to be aware of. That is the microplastics and the macroplastics. Macroplastics are the plastics we see in litter. It includes plastic bags, packaging material, and other types of plastics we use in our day to day lives. Microplastics are the plastics we can’t see. They are like a hidden danger that has only gotten more severe in the past decades. Microplastics can come from broken off pieces of macroplastics, resin pellets used in the manufacturing of plastics, or microbeads, which are the tiny exfoliating beads that are often found in skincare products. The ramifications of this extend far past animals, but we’ll get into that in a bit. First, how does it harm animals? There are actually a few ways this happens. Let’s take a look at a few animals that have become major victims of this problem. Big predators such as tuna and sharks consume smaller fish. But with plastic littering the sea, these smaller fish are consuming microplastics. When the tuna and sharks eat their meals, they are consuming the accumulation of all of the microplastics that have been consumed by their prey. Sea turtles are another animal that gets brought up a lot in the fight to reduce the use of single-use plastics. One huge threat to these animals are plastic straws. Sea turtles will see these plastic straws floating around in the ocean and think it looks like a delicious snack. Unfortunately, these straws can hurt an innocent sea turtle in more ways than one. First of all, plastic doesn’t break down in the stomach of a sea turtle, so an accumulation of these straws can become fatal fast. Another threat is the straw becoming lodged in the sea turtles’ nose. Since sea turtles have passageways that connect their mouth and nose, much like a human, the food, or in this case plastic, they consume can end up coming out of their nose. This obstructs their nose and can even cause major damage. It doesn’t stop at straws, the plastic rings that hold together six-packs of canned drinks often become dangers for animals such as ducks. The rings will get caught around their necks, causing a panic. The more the ducks struggle to free themselves, the more damage it causes. Without the help of a human to free them, they can suffocate. As you can see, plastic is more than a nuisance for animals, it is oftentimes a death sentence. Marine life is especially affected by this threat. How exactly does it get in the ocean? There are several ways this can happen. Stormwater runoff is one way, and so is improper waste disposal. Illegal dumping, construction, sewer overflows, and countless other events leads to pollution like this. The horrifying truth is that unless the production and use of plastics is strictly limited, this issue will only continue to get worse. The issue of plastics harming marine life also affects us humans, and many aren’t even aware of it. Remember the issue with tuna fish? Humans eat tuna fish, so all of the micro plastics that a tuna accumulates when they eat their prey is then accumulated by the humans who eat the tuna. In 2022, a study showed that a single can of tuna can contain hundreds of microplastics. 🔥 For the best top 10 wildlife and wild animals content around, check out some of our other content relating to predators and prey on our channel pet spot null #wildanimals #animals #petspot