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That doesn't appear to pass the smell test. According to this* there are only 52,000 merchant ships operating globally so the thought of each ship dumping 20,00
by cc439 8y ago
That doesn't appear to pass the smell test. According to this* there are only 52,000 merchant ships operating globally so the thought of each ship dumping 20,000lbs of plastic overboard each year in acerage (a rough estimate based on 5.6m tons currently existing and that number "regenerating" each decade as old plastic falls to the sea floor or gets ingested) seems to be unreasonable. I've seen some of the rivers referenced in that "forwards fron grandma" level infographic and I'm inclined to believe it.
- changchuming 8y agoThat's not surprising at all. According to this link, a large fishing net can weigh up to 10,000 pounds. 20,000 pounds is just two nets. I'm sure fishing vessels lose many more than two nets every year. https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/thousands-miles-ghost-fishing-nets-ocean-threaten-marine-life-n402366 https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/thousands-miles-ghost-f...
- nradov 8y agoScuba divers are clearing some lost nets in the Ghost Fishing project, although they can only recover a tiny fraction. https://www.ghostfishing.org/ https://www.ghostfishing.org/