AAs our small fishing boat came to a slow stop in a shallow bay southeast of Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz in the Galapagos Islands, a green sea turtle surfaced next to us, followed by a second, and then a few meters further The third one outside. A spotted eagle ray glides beneath the boat.
Captain Don Nelson stepped onto the black volcanic reef, which was slippery with algae. We follow, past exposed mangrove roots, to higher ground. Pelicans flew into the woods and small birds perched on the branches, ignoring our arrival.
This remote archipelago is still home to unique species such as giant tortoises and finches that inspired naturalist Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution almost two centuries ago, and it’s impossible not to be fascinated by the apparent harmony with which animals and humans coexist here. Shocked.
But then, a shocking sight unfolds: a marine iguana, a famous Galapagos species found nowhere else in the world, sitting on a pile of plastic trash like fishing buoys, oil drums, household containers and On beverage bottles, these plastic garbage are pushed to the rocks by high pressure. This prehistoric-looking reptile is listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), making it one of the species most vulnerable to plastic threats here.
Mariana Vera, Galapagos program manager at Conservation International, said the reefs are home to pelicans and marine iguanas. Since it is nesting season, there are many turtles. It’s overwhelming and sad to see them filled with plastic.
Research has found that most of the plastic washed up here comes from Peru, Ecuador and China. Plastic originating in Asia is unlikely to reach the Galapagos Islands through ocean currents, according to a 2019 study, suggesting items with Asian labels likely came from nearby fishing boats.
Globally, about 20% of plastic pollution in the oceans comes from maritime sources, but in the Galapagos Islands, although estimates vary widely, that number may be 20%, according to soon-to-be-published research from the Galapagos Marine Sanctuary and the Marine Environment Agency. Up to 40%.
Four years ago, the world was shocked by news that a massive fleet of hundreds of Chinese fishing boats had surrounded the edge of the protected area.This resulted in a vow from Ecuadorian President Len Morenoto protect what he calls the hotbed of life throughout the planet, as well as various diplomatic agreements between countries.
Since then, Chinese fishing fleets have reportedly maintained a greater distance from Ecuador’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), a 200-nautical-mile area off the coast of Ecuador over which China has jurisdiction over marine resources.
But the illegal dumping of plastic waste from its fishing vessels and other plastics from the Latin American continent on the high seas outside its EEZ continues. Rodrigo Robalino, environmental manager of Galapagos National Park who accompanied us, said the problem persists.
The islands are the second most important nesting and feeding area for sea turtles, which are listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, after Mexico.
Robalino said we found such contamination on all islands, but there were also hotspots where tides and currents gathered. The plastic burden is heavier on windward coasts.
We walked past giant cactus columns to reach the sun-bleached roots of mangrove trees beyond, dotted with mostly clear plastic drink bottles.
Robalino said the contamination was recent because it was clear and had no barnacles attached. We counted 21 bottles in the fishing line. Six products, including soap dispensers, carry Asian labels; three are Peruvian brands, including Inca Kola, a joint Peruvian and Coca-Cola brand, and Sporade, made by AJE and sold throughout Latin America. Labeled products include international brands including Dasani, produced by Coca-Cola, and Pepsi-Cola Gatorade.
Robalino said the bottles came from other countries in the region. There are also international fishing fleets, including Chinese fleets circling marine reserves. Listol and Santa Cruz Islands. The plastic is shipped 600 miles to Guayaquil, Ecuador, for recycling or landfill.
Last year, they collected 13 million tons. For the more remote islands (there are 13 main islands and many smaller islands), only occasional clean-ups can be done. They are harder to get to, can cost up to $US2,000 ($1,600) and take up to 15 days to get there, clean the beach and return. From May to November, weather conditions make many islands inaccessible. For Robalino, Vera and the fishermen and community volunteers involved, the cleanup was a Sisyphean task. But they have no choice.
If we don’t do this, Robalino said, plastic will break down into fibers that birds often use to build their nests, and then into microplastics that can be carried by the wind or enter the ocean. Microplastics contaminated with chemicals can be toxic and cause genetic harm to marine life and humans when ingested.
The waters surrounding the Galapagos Islands, designated a UNESCO heritage site in 1978, are among the most biologically diverse on Earth, in part because they are located between three major ocean currents. The largest, the Humboldt Current, sweeps cold, nutrient-rich water from Antarctica along the coasts of Chile and Peru, then west toward the islands.
Biodiversity on the 97% uninhabited island remains relatively undisturbed thanks to marine protected areas. But ocean currents are rich in nutrients, leading to two of the biggest threats: overfishing and plastic pollution.
Ocean currents are the lifeblood of the Galapagos Islands, said marine ecologist Nicole Smoty of the Charles Darwin Foundation in Santa Cruz. They brought this species here in the first place. Early giant tortoises came here as small tortoises from the mainland and evolved.
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Warm and cold currents intertwine to create an astonishing abundance of life. Penguins and corals in the same place.
But now, in a globalized world, ocean currents are carrying plastic to the Galapagos Islands, he said.
Moti is working with protected areas and environmental groups to determine how plastic accumulation sites affect biodiversity so they can better clean up. Saw the same situation.
Three years ago, Moity examined sea urchins and found that 75% had ingested microplastics. Microplastics are ingested by everything from zooplankton to large animals, but we don’t know the impact, he said.
Many of the animals most vulnerable to plastic entanglement or ingestion are also threatened by other human activities, including habitat degradation and climate breakdown: critically endangered Santa Cruz giant tortoises, endangered green sea turtles, vulnerable marine iguanas, endangered Extinct Galapagos sea lions and whales Sharks, according to a 2023 paper.
Up to 86% of the debris in tortoise feces is plastic.
Ecuador has applied to host the signing of the United Nations Plastic Treaty in the Galapagos Islands, the first legally binding global treaty to end plastic waste. The latest negotiations on the treaty will take place this week in Ottawa, Canada’s capital, until April 29. The goal is to complete negotiations by the end of 2024 and sign the treaty in 2025.
Dr Jane Jones, chief executive of the UK’s Galapagos Conservation Trust, is working with marine reserves to complete a five-year study into plastic pollution. She is expected to present some of the findings at talks this week.
“We looked at cleanup data sets over many years and looked at all the plastics, bottles, fishing gear like rope and other items,” Jones said. She found that at least 40 percent of plastic comes from the ocean, which is higher than previous studies of plastic bottles suggested, which was around 13 percent.
The trust is also organizing a mini-summit for small Pacific islands, which like the Galapagos suffer an unfair burden of plastic pollution, to highlight the role of islanders in protecting the world’s biodiversity and to urge stronger nations Addressing the unfair burden of plastic pollution.
Jones said this is a social justice issue.
Senegal, Peru and Rwanda also applied to the United Nations during treaty negotiations to sign the final agreement in their countries.
The incoming chair of the Canadian talks, Luis Vaillas Valdivieso, Ecuador’s ambassador to the UK, played an impartial role in the negotiations. But Valdivieso, who recently returned from the Polynesian Chilean territory of Rapa Nui, or Easter Island, where he witnessed plastic pollution, said he understands the unfair burden faced by islanders and small island nations.
“I see the concerns of the islands and the people on the islands,” he said. They are making a huge effort. In the Galapagos and other islands they have special legislation not to use single-use plastics, but they still see pollution.
You can have the best national legislation in the world to ban plastic. But it won’t work without a global agreement.
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Image Source : www.theguardian.com