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Ocean Pollution and Ocean Plastics
Pollution of the world’s oceans is one of those topics that makes most people want to bury their heads in the sand. With as many as 250,000 chemicals on the global market, and 1,000 new ones available every year, the tasks facing environmental scientists, natural resource managers and regulators is daunting. Certain chemicals have achieved notoriety because of the effects of their release on unwitting populations of humans and wildlife. This list includes organic mercury which was responsible for the contamination of fish in Minimata Bay in Japan and the poisoning of the local human population, the widespread extirpation of aquatic birds due to DDT-associated eggshell thinning, the disruption of endocrine systems in pinnipeds and cetaceans by industrial PCBs, and the feminization of male fish in freshwater rivers by estrogenic sewage effluent. In all of these cases, studies of aquatic invertebrates, fish, birds and mammals helped guide the design of solution-oriented practices. The end result has been dramatic declines in the levels of these nefarious contaminants and consequent improvement in the health of aquatic species and those people who depend on them. But while aquatic toxicologists have long studied the effects of chemicals on the health of biota, there are increasing concerns about the breakdown of plastics into tiny particles referred to as microplastics. This ‘structural pollutant’ can suffocate, lacerate, impede feeding or artificially satiate individuals. With these microplastics (<5 mm) coming from a multitude of sources, including the breakdown of packaging, beverage containers, toys, textiles and furnishings, the world has a chance to re-think its plastic economy and create an after-use market for plastic packaging and products. Creative and focused scientific research to document source, transport, fate and effects of microplastics in the world’s aquatic ecosystems is needed to inform solutions, but the public may already be ready and willing to learn, act and change.
Dr. Peter Ross
Dr. Peter S. Ross is the founding Director of the Ocean Pollution Research Program of the Vancouver Aquarium’s newly-launched Coastal Ocean Research Institute. He will provide an overview of the key pollution issues facing the world’s oceans including the rapid increase of both micro and macro plastics and their impact on ocean ecology and species.
Dr. Ross is an international expert in the area of ocean pollution, having published over 140 scientific articles and book chapters. He served as a Research Scientist with the Canadian government between 1996 and 2013. He is Adjunct Professor at the School of Environmental Studies, University of Victoria. He obtained his PhD from the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands (1995), MSc from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia (1990), and BSc (Honours) from Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario (1985). He has pioneered new techniques to evaluate the effects of pollutants on the health of marine mammals. He has conducted field studies of marine mammals in a way that informs and understanding of source, transport and fate of a number of priority pollutants in our oceans. He is a frequent advisor to conservation teams in different parts of the world, and has provided advice in support of chemical regulation, species at risk, ocean disposal and ocean health. Dr Ross attaches great importance to his work with coastal First Nations and Inuit communities on issues surrounding safe traditional seafoods. His team is currently conducting research on microplastic pollution, marine mammal health, oil spills, safe traditional seafoods and a coast-wide pollution monitoring project (PollutionTracker) in British Columbia.
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