WELLINGTON - Floating plastic garbage has swamped a remote Pacific island once regarded as an environmental jewel and scientists say little can be done to save it while a throwaway culture persists.
"We found debris from just about everywhere," said Dr Jennifer Lavers, an Australian-based researcher who led an expedition to the island last month. Henderson lies at the centre of the South Pacific gyre, a vast circular ocean current that runs anti-clockwise down the east coast of Australia and up the west coast of South America.
"As one of the last near-pristine limestone islands of significant size in the world, Henderson Island retains its exceptional natural beauty with its white, sandy beaches, limestone cliffs, and rich and almost undisturbed vegetation," it said. Compounding the problem, the churning waves have reduced more than half the waste to tiny particles almost invisible to the human eye, making them impossible to clean up but easily digested by wildlife such as birds and turtles.
Dr Lavers admitted it was"heartbreaking" to make such a mammoth effort only to see more garbage floating ashore where they had just cleaned.
Singapore Latest News, Singapore Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: The Straits Times - 🏆 8. / 63 Read more »