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Environment Marine organisms ride plastic, threaten ecosystems Marine organisms traveling on flotillas of discarded plastic and other human-made rubbish are invading Antarctica and tropical islands and threatening native species, a marine biologist said Wednesday. Armies of barnacles, mollusks, sea worms, and corals are hitching rides on floating debris and moving into new areas where they can endanger native species and drastically change fragile ecosystems. Antarctica, the Seychelles, Madagascar, and areas which have the most endemic species are most at risk from the invaders.
"Rubbish at sea is much more dangerous than we had previously assumed. The problem of dumping at sea has got to be addressed," said David Barnes, a marine biologist at the British Antarctic Survey. The debris has doubled the spread of alien species in the subtropics and more than tripled it at high latitudes. thanks to DANGEROUSMETA! |