Trash Talking:
Marine Trash and Us
28 March 2014

Does Singapore city
have marine life?

Green Turtle, Pulau Hantu, Mar 2005
Photo by Jani Thuaibah
Jani
Thuaibah

The dugong or sea cow, is found in Singapore
waters too, where they feed on sea grass.
Dept Environment & Heritage, Government of Australia

Indo-pacific Bottlenose Dolphin
(Tursiops aduncus)
Straits of Singapore
Photo by Con Foley, 2012

Chek Jawa, Pulau Ubin

Chek Jawa, Pulau Ubin

Giant mudskipper
(Periophthalmodon schlosseri)
Sungei Buloh Wetlands Reserve
N. Sivasothi, 2009

Monitor Lizard
(Varanus salvator)
Pulau Ubin
N. Sivasothi, 2009

Tree-climbing crab,
(Episesarma singaporensis)
Sungei Mandai mangrove
N. Sivasothi, 2011

Smooth-coated otters at
Sungei Buloh Wetlands Reserve,
residential population since 1998
Photo by Marcus Ng aka ‘Budak’, 2011

What’s happening to
our ocean and
marine life?

Life Magazine 1955 –
“Throw away living”

Thompson, R. C., Swan, S. H., Moore, C. J., & vom Saal, F. S.
(2009). Our plastic age. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal
Society B: Biological Sciences, 364(1526), 1973-1976.
Plastic threats
• ‘One of the most ubiquitous and long-lasting recent
changes to the surface of our planet is the
accumulation and fragmentation of plastics’.
• The most substantial use of plastics today, (> 1/3 of
production) is for disposable items of packaging, most
of which are discarded within a year or so of
manufacture.

Picture by Chris Jordan

The problem with plastics
• Non-biodegradable
• “Plastics are accumulating as debris in landfills and in
natural habitats worldwide.”
• “Current use not sustainable”
• ‘. . . plastic production continues to grow at
approximately 9 per cent per annum.’
Thompson, Richard C., Charles J. Moore, Frederick S. vom Saal &
Shanna H. Swan, 2009. Plastics, the environment and human
health: current consensus and future trends. Phil. Trans. R. Soc.
B, Biological Sciences, 364 (1526): 2153-2166.
Thompson, R. C., Swan, S. H., Moore, C. J., & vom Saal, F. S.
(2009). Our plastic age. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B, Biological
Sciences, 364(1526), 1973-1976.

Los Angeles (Altered
Oceans, LA Times)
Mandai mangrove, Singapore
(N. Sivasothi)

Tanah Merah, 05 May 2013
Gladys Chua, ICCS

Only 20 percent of the plastic in the oceans comes from
ships or offshore platforms. The rest orignates from land.
Photo from Chek Jawa, Pulau Ubin by Andy Dinesh

The Pacific Trash Vortex

Different types of marine trash
cause different problems
• Very large pieces - huge, abandoned drift nets or ‘ghost nets’
and dumping cause entanglement of animals, suppression of
plant growth
• Large pieces - from car fenders down to plastic bottles,
suppress growth
• Macro-fragments - ingested by larger animals such as
albatross and other seabirds, turtles, fish
• Micro-fragments - ingested by fish, transport invasive species
and chemicals

Photo credit:
Seal: Lucasa, Z., 1992. Monitoring persistent litter in the marine
environment on Sable Island, Nova Scotia. Marine Pollution
Bulletin, 24(4): 192-199.
Horseshoe crab: N. Sivasothi. Mandai Besar mangrove,
27 May 2009
Dead albatross: Midway: Message from the Gyre by Chris Jordan
A threat to marine life
looms on our shores,
locally and globally
Entanglement, Ingestion, Suffocation,
Suppression, Toxins, Transport of
Chemicals…

Photo credit: UNEP
Entanglement of
wildlife
Entanglement of marine animals
Photo credits: Rolf Ream National Marine Mammal Laboratory (top right);
Habitatnews (bottom)

Entanglement of
marine animals
300 horseshoe crabs in a
single gill net.
Mandai Besar mangrove,
27 May 2009
N. Sivasothi
Entanglement of
wildlife

Badly entangled flukes of a humpback whale
– Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies, United States
Entanglement of
wildlife

Plastic canvas in stomach
of a dead sperm whale.
Donana Biological Station, Spanish National Research Council,
28 Mar 2012 (EBD-CSIC/AFP, 07 Mar 2013)
Ingestion of
plastics
17kg of garbage blocking
stomach, including:
- some 30 m2
of plastic canvas,
- a dozen metres of plastic
rope,
- plastic sheeting,
- two flower pots.
“It did not surprise us” -
Renaud de Stephanis, a
marine biologist at the Donana
Biological Station

“Turtles have been found to
have eaten most plastic items,
but the most common items
eaten are:
soft plastics, such as plastic
bags and lolly wrappers, and
pieces of hard broken-down
plastic”
Dr Kathy Townsend,
Moreton Bay, Australia
fb: Turtles in Trouble
Photos by Kathy Townsend
Ingestion of
plastics

Midway Atoll, Pacific
Wikipedia: Midway Atoll
Ingestion of
plastics
Laysan albatross
(Phoebastria immutabilis)
Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge
David Patte/U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service

Chris Jordan’s
“Midway: Message from the Gyre”
http://www.midwayjourney.com (video can be found in YouTube)

How is this impacting
you and me?

Thompson, Richard C., Charles J. Moore, Frederick S. vom Saal & Shanna H. Swan, 2009.
Plastics, the environment and human health: current consensus and future trends. Phil. Trans. R.
Soc. B, Biological Sciences, 364 (1526): 2153-2166.
Thompson, R. C., Swan, S. H., Moore, C. J., & vom Saal, F. S. (2009). Our plastic age. Phil.
Trans. R. Soc. B, Biological Sciences, 364(1526), 1973-1976.
Microplastics
• There is evidence that plastics are fragmenting in the
environment and, as a consequence, will become
available for ingestion by a wider range of organisms
(Barnes et al. 2009)
• The ingestion of plastic debris could lead to the transfer
of toxic chemicals to wildlife and to food chain. Recent
publications have raised new concerns around this
issue.

Captain Charles Moore

No Fishmonger on Earth can serve you a
certified organic wild caught fish.

“Plastic Soup”
Concentrate organic pollutants up to a
million times the ambient level in sea water.

Fish are eating the plastic
Concentration of toxics are the highest at the top of
the food chain because toxics in our food has
accumulated as it goes up the food chain.

The problem will only get worse
Thanks to Won Joon Shim, Oil and POPs Research Group, Korea Institute of
Ocean Science and Technology, Republic of South Korea, for this slide.

What can we do?

Year Round Cleanups,
International Coastal Cleanup
Singapore
Get out
there and
clean a
beach!
http://coastalcleanup.nus.edu.sg
I REFUSE TO ACCEPTI REFUSE TO ACCEPT
THIS!THIS!
What can
we do?

International Coastal Cleanup Singapore
Started by Ocean Conservancy in 1986
Volunteers in Singapore have been battling marine trash since 1992
Reclamation
Reclamation
Reservoir
Army
PROTECTED
Army
4,000 volunteers
>60 organisations

Proper
disposal of
waste!
Don’t Litter!
What can
we do?

Zero Waste Singapore with data from NEA
“It is ethically wrong that more than 80 per cent of our waste
consists of recyclable material … yet so little of that is recycled,”
- Minister for the Environment and Water Resources
Vivian Balakrishnan, 02 July 2013

Throwaway lifestyle is the cause
of marine trash!

One-time-use plastic -
Something that is used for 5 minutes of convenience
but lasts for hundreds of years!
Reduce!!!

Personal habits
• Refuse plastic bags
• Bring your own water
• Bring your own coffee mug/container
• Battle consumerism culture!
What can
we do?

Good job Pamela Soo & friends!
 Communicate
– – facebook
– – blog
– – newsletters
Personal habits
What can
we do?

Encourage
(Family, Workplace)
“higher returns”
Observe cleanliness, daily resource use
Suggest better practices
Moderate room temperatures (air-con),
recycling (paper and others), etc
What can
we do?

Encourage
 Event catering
– – recyclable utensils,
– – less food,
– – vegetarian options
– – do we need goodie bags?
 Green audit
What can
we do?

Public Hygiene Council - http://phc.sg
Action (nationally, globally)
 Write in to ask for reductions
Consumers are a potent force!
 Speak up - question food wastage,
excess plastic use, paper waste.
 Share solutions!
What can
we do?

Creative
expression

“We do not inherit the
earth from our
ancestors; we borrow it
from our children”
― Chief Seattle

Thank you!