Microplastics in Clean Areas Of the Ocean? Biologists Are Concerned

And experts say humanity’s plastic consumption will only grow over the next 20 years.

Transcript

00:00This is Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, and while this is what some of their beaches look like,

00:09this is what it's like on other parts of their coastline, a veritable garbage dump

00:12of plastic.

00:13As plastic is deposited into the oceans, it never fully breaks down, but it is broken

00:18up into small bits called microplastics.

00:21These little bits can then be ingested by wildlife, wreaking havoc on the animals.

00:25And during a recent evaluation of areas around Brazil, researchers say they are absolutely

00:30shocked at how much of this stuff is in their waters.

00:32This is marine biologist Raquel Neves.

00:35Her and her team have been diving and collecting sea creatures for autopsies, and inside they

00:39have found some startling discoveries.

00:41Here's what she had to say about the situation.

00:43I was frightened.

00:44I knew I would find some microplastics, but I never thought it would be this much.

00:48That sample I showed you from the sea urchin is from a reference area that we thought to

00:51be clean.

00:52That is our cleanest spot.

00:54It calls for the contrary.

00:55Single-use plastic consumption continues to increase, expected to triple by 2040.