A seal surrounded by plastic trash on a beach in the Valdes Peninsula, Argentina
Seals and sea lions are suffering as the beaches of the Valdes Peninsula, located in Chubut province, eastern Argentina, are covered with plastic waste, local media Infovae reported on the 19th local time.
Valdes Peninsula has a total area of 3,625 km2, almost six times the size of Seoul, and faces the Atlantic Bay.
It is an important breeding ground for southern elephant seals and South American sea lions, and is also known as the home of the endangered southern right whale.
It was also recognized as an ecosystem of various marine animals such as the Magellanic Penguin, and was registered as a World Natural Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1999.
At the end of August, the shocking image of a seal moving while moving its heavy body in a plastic garbage pile on the beach of the Valdes Peninsula spread rapidly through local social media. followed.
The Puerto Pyramide beach, located on the Valdes Peninsula, is now 80% contaminated with plastic waste, said Sergio Kasin, Deputy Environment Minister for the State Government.
Most of the plastic waste that fills the beach is discarded fishing gear such as nets and plastic boxes that have been dumped by squid and shrimp fishing boats in the Atlantic Ocean.
Alejandro Ferro, who runs a farm in the Valdes Peninsula, said he had found countless sea animals suffering from entangled nets on the beach near the farm.
“If you autopsy a baby penguin carcass, the inside will be full of plastic,” he said.
In the SNS space, netizens commented that it is even more pathetic because there are many pictures of seals and sea lions living on the beach full of plastic waste, struggling to climb or screaming on the pile of garbage.
According to the UN’s report on environmental pollution, 85% of marine debris is plastic waste, with a total of 199 million tons of plastic waste, of which less than 10% is barely recycled.
Even more problematic is that these plastic wastes break down and break down into small fragments, which marine animals confuse with food and eat, posing a direct threat to life.