Plastic litters one of the world’s remotest islands in the South Pacific.
The beaches of the isolated and uninhabited Henderson island, located more than 5000 kilometers from the closest major population center, have been found to be polluted with plastic debris.
Above, image credit Jennifer Lavers/University of Tasmania
According to scientists from the University of Tasmania and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Henderson Island is littered with about 37.7 million pieces of plastic.
Dr Jennifer Lavers, that found the beaches littered by up to 670 items per square meter (the highest density ever recorded), said:
“Plastic debris is an entanglement and ingestion hazard for many species, creates a physical barrier on beaches to animals such as sea turtles, and lowers the diversity of shoreline invertebrates.
Research has shown that more than 200 species are known to be at risk from eating plastic, and 55 per cent of the world’s seabirds, including two species found on Henderson Island, are at risk from marine debris.”
Image credit Jennifer Lavers/University of Tasmania
via atlasobscura
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