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Samantha Flores

Hawaii’s Sea of Trash

All over the world, we see a plastic problem in the ocean, and efforts are being made to solve the issue. Some places in the world can be more affected by the problem than others. This is true in Hawaii, as it is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean. The people of Hawaii use these waters for food, transportation, trade, and the waters are simply a part of their traditions. Plastics, Fish- ing Nets, and chemicals are all types of manmade products that are entering the oceans causing disruption. Given the newly recognized markers of the Anthropocene in the ocean, such marine plastic debris, how are the people of Hawaii impacted by these changes to their highly oceanic environment?

Looking at the Anthropocene epoch as a starting point in analyzing the plastic issue, we must think about how everyday human activity and human technology affects human life and the lives of every other living organism on our earth today. The Anthropocene is an era is a newly declared era that has been defined as the era of human impact. Natural activity like the ocean currents and winds do not stop to wait for geological changes to become fixed and pass over. As a new era begins, and negative human impact marks the age of the Anthropocene, Hawaii’s beaches like Kamilo are affected by the epoch. A beach that once provided life and discovery to the Hawaiian people is now a collector of all things non-biodegradable. As innovations like plas- tic have caused issues for Hawaii and its people, new innovations for getting rid of plastic might also help the Hawaiian people. The actions that are currently being taken to help fix Hawaii’s plastic problem is still not enough for the bigger issues that will soon come for the people of Ha- waii.

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Plastics are now entering the food web causing harm to both people and the entire ocean food chain. The chemicals that plastics pick up along the way as they drift through the ocean get consumed by many animals throughout the Hawaiian oceans. As the Hawaiian people are so de- pendent on their marine environment, studies are being conducted to figure out what affect these animals have on people who consume them, since they contain plastics inside of them. Animals that have been apart of the Hawaiian culture for centuries are becoming extinct due to marine de- bris.

The Anthropocene

The Anthropocene Epoch was declared by an expert group of scientists who prepared and presented their recommendation to the International Geological Congress in Cape Town (Car- rington, 2016). The Anthropocene started in 1950, when the use of radioactive material and ele- ments were used and spread across the globe. At this time nuclear bombs were being tested and used on earth which started most of the radio-active solution on our earth today. Carrington

(2016) suggests that, “An array of other signals, including plastic pollution, soot from power sta- tions, concrete, and even the bones left by the global proliferation of the domestic chicken were now under consideration” (Carrington, 2016). These man-made problems have caused pollution on the earth, that has never been experienced in this mass scale until the age of the An- thropcene.

Before the Anthropocene Epoch, the Holocene was considered the age of 12,000 years of stable climate. This era has lasted since the last ice age 2.6 million years ago. This age came to an end when all things human-caused began to happen. Deforestation, along with carbon dioxide emissions, sea level rise, mass extinction of species, and of course, plastic pollution, are some of the things that can be considered human-caused. When the earth began to change profoundly

Running head: HAWAII’S SEA OF TRASH Flores 3 scientists declared it was time that the Anthropocene would end the Holocene era as it was such a significant change in history.

Each era, can be seen when the new era starts by looking at the geology of the earth. The geological change for an era is usually seen over millions to tens of millions of years. Carrington

(2016), mentions that “One criticism of the Anthropocene as geology is that it is very short…Our response is that many of the changes are irreversible.” (Carrington, 2016). When there is a change in the rock structure that is so significant, it is humanly impossible to find every rock, or every change, and man make a solution to change the rock structure back to the way it was be- fore. Rocks are formed through many different processes, naturally as environments are different everywhere. Lava rocks are formed in areas where there is active lava flow. That lava rock has already been formed therefore there is no way to reverse the process. That is exactly why, when the geology of the Earth changes, there is no reverse to what already occurred.

To declare or define a new epoch, geologically there must be something that will in the future be in the deposits of the earth at a global scale. With the Anthropocene era, the largest amount of material that will be found in the sediments are radioactive materials from nuclear bomb experiments. There are many others to include, but the main one that is significant is plas- tic pollution. These materials can get into the earth causing a change in the rock structure.

Carrington (2016) mentions a scientist,

“Rapley also said there was a strong case: ‘It is highly appropriate that geologists should

pay formal attention to a change in the signal within sedimentary rock layers that will be

clearly apparent to future generations of geologists for as long as they exist. The ‘great

acceleration’ constitutes a strong, detectable and incontrovertible signal” (Carrington,

2016).

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Looking at the rock structure and the geological formation of the earth as the Anthropocene Era begins to take its way, it can be found that the human polluted sources can be found in our rock layers. The problem with these discoveries is that what has been done and embedded in the layers of the earth, cannot be reversed, which would conclude that negative human impact is the biggest problem the earth faces today.

The plastic rock

As mentioned before, the biggest determining factor of defining a new era is finding a change in the rock structure that will be seen on a global scale. This is already happening on the island of Hawaii. On the Kamilo beach on an Island in Hawaii, there was an appearance of a new stone that had been formed by the intermingling process between melted plastics, beach sedi- ments, basaltic Lava Fragments, and organic debris from the island .The rock that was discov- ered was then named the Plastiglomerate. The meaning of the name stems from rocks that are categorized as conglomerates. These conglomerate rocks are formed by a multitude of small peb- bles, cobbles, clasts, and sometimes boulders. They are usually held together by types of clay depending on were they are found and created. The name plasti comes from the word plastic. In the article, “An anthropogenic marker horizon in the future rock record”, the authors state, “We observed the results of this density increase on Kamilo Beach, where great quantities of melted plastic have mixed with the substrate to create new fragments of much greater density, herein re- ferred to as “plastiglomerate.” These rocks were found all over different areas on the Kamilo beach. The authors also state, “Our results indicate that this anthropogenically influenced mate- rial has great potential to form a marker horizon of human pollution, signaling the occurrence of the informal Anthropocene epoch” (Corcoran, 2014). These rocks are formed because of the amounts of plastic found all over the Beaches of Hawaii. If the plastics weren't existent to be

Running head: HAWAII’S SEA OF TRASH Flores 5 melted down into molten plastic, the rock would have never existed. Humans have caused a change in the rock structure, which is why scientists have declared that a new era has begun.

There is a significant change in the rock structure, that can be defined as human caused, and as long as plastics remain in the marine environments of Hawaii, these rocks will continually be created. There is no way in monitoring every rock and finding each one of them. Years from now, people will find these rocks in the earth showing human impact.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a massive collection of marine debris that lies in the

Northern Pacific Ocean. Marine debris can be defined as litter or substances created by humans that have been dragged into, blown into, or directly put into the ocean, or other bodies of water that leads to the ocean. In the National Geographic article, “Great Garbage Patch: Pacific Trash

Vortex”, the National Geographic Society suggests that, “The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, also known as the Pacific trash vortex, spans waters from the West Coast of North America to Japan”

(Society, N.G., 2014). There are two main patches located in the west near Japan, and in the

East located near Hawaii and California. It is a garbage patch that is estimated to be seven to nine million square miles.

The accumulation

On a large scale, trash in the ocean gets accumulated by gyres in the ocean. A gyre is a huge cycle of ocean currents that rotate around a central point. The article, “How Debris

Accumulates”, states, “clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the

Southern Hemisphere” (Parker, 2013a). There are multiple gyres in the ocean, but the focus regarding plastics in Hawaii, will be in regards to the Pacific Subtropical Gyres. There are four major ocean currents that rotate like a conveyer belt causing The Great Ocean Garbage Patch.

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The North Pacific Current, California Current, North Equatorial current, and Kuroshio Current

(Society, N.G., 2014).

The reason for the huge accumulation of debris in the Great Garbage Patch is because of its non-biodegradable characteristics. Plastics are an eternal substance. They never fully break down, but simply turn into smaller, tinier pieces throughout time. The Great Pacific Garbage

Patch is made up of many different kinds of plastic substances. The most common source of plastic found in the Garbage Patch is microplastics. These microplastics are tiny bits of plastics, that break off of other big pieces of plastic. The sun is a major contributor to the creation of mi- croplastics in the ocean, through a process called photodegradation. As plastic pieces sit in a stagnant accumulation in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, the sun beats on large pieces of plastic causing microplastic breakage. The National Geographic Society explains, “Microplastics can’t always be seen by the naked eye. Even satellite imagery does not show a giant patch of garbage”

(Society, N.G., 2014). What the actual patch of garbage looks like from above is a soupy ocean intertwined with bigger pieces of debris, like fishing nets, shoes, and other substances that are larger in size seeable to the human eye. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is not only on the sur- face of the ocean but can be found underneath of the waters. The National Geographic Society mentions, “Oceanographers and ecologists recently discovered that about 70% of marine debris actually sinks to the bottom of the ocean” (Society, N.G., 2014). Since these plastics and debris are not biodegradable and never break down, being at the bottom of the ocean is worse for the animals than being at the surface. The plastic has now entered their home, making way into their diets, and integrating itself into their everyday lives.

Where do the Plastics Come From?

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It is obvious that plastics are man-made and come from human sources. The ultimate question is where, geographically, are they coming from? The National Geographic Society has found that about 80 percent of the debris in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch comes from land-based activities in both North America and in Asia (Society, N.G., 2014). Trash that travels to the Great Garbage Patch does not reach the patch immediately after entering the ocean. It takes up to almost a year to reach the patch by traveling through the ocean. Trash from the coast of North America takes up to six years to reach the patch, and trash from Asian countries can take up to one year. Not all trash is originated from shores or coastlines. The National Geo- graphic Society states, “The remaining 20% of debris in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch comes from boaters, offshore oil rigs, and large cargo ships that dump or lose debris directly into the water” (Society, N.G., 2014). The main debris to fall off of boats are fishing nets. There are about 705,000 tons of fishing nets in the patch. Many shipping containers can also get lost or dropped into the ocean, causing all that they contain to enter the ocean as well.

Kamilo Point in Hawaii

Kamilo Point is located on the island of Hawaii. Throughout time Hawaii has been a place known as paradise with beautiful beaches, warm waters, and wonderful marine life and wildlife. Kamilo Point is found in the rural Ka’u District of the Big Island in Hawaii. As Kamilo

Beach used to be a beautiful place in Hawaii to explore, it has become a land full of trash. The ocean at Kamilo Point is beautiful as it contains pockets of lava rock and tide pools, but the land is not a beautiful site today. Because of the amount of plastic that has been accumulated and washed onto the beach, it is now considered one of the dirtiest beaches in the world. It has be- come so known to the people of Hawaii as well as people from all around the world, that it has taken up a new name called ‘Plastic Beach’(Herreria, 2017).

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Some of the key items found on Kamilo Point are cigarette lighters, hair brushes, water bottles, bottle caps, shards of plastic, fishing net, straws, broken detergent bottles, and discarded trash with labels that include both Japanese and Russian language (Herreria, 2017). The plastic that reaches the coast of Hawaii travels miles before reaching the beaches that collect each piece.

Because Hawaii is in the center of one of the Great Pacific Garbage Patches most trash ends up on the islands causing many issues for the Hawaiian people. To help relieve some of the garbage off of the Kamilo Point, the Hawaii Wildlife Fund (HWF) conducts a cleanup regularly in the lo- cation. Throughout a span of a few months, the HWF collected and took 15,000 pounds of de- bris away from the beach (Herreria, 2017). Though these cleanups are conducted in many dif- ferent areas in Hawaii, it is unknown how long the areas will stay clean. A place like Kamilo

Point might only stay clean for a few days or weeks, because the debris from the ocean are never-ending, as long as products like plastic keep ending up in the ocean.

Trash affects the Hawaiian people

It is completely evident that the trash is drifting ashore, from being out at sea for years.

The Big Island endures a big issue regarding drifting trash. Its southeastern shore is close to the eastern Pacific Garbage Patch (Herreria, 2017). Hawaii is known for their names and the meanings to them. They named the point Kamilo, which means ‘whirling, swirling, twisting currents’, completely relevant regarding its debris issue. The start of the trash accumulation on the beaches of Kamilo began in the 1980s (Herreria, 2017). The HWF was already at that time volunteering to clean up the beaches as trash accumulated.

Before plastics were a creation, or even an idea, Kamilo Point was a crucial part of the

Hawaiian culture. Native Hawaiian people used to use the beach to create the great dugout canoes of Hawaii. Driftwood from the American Pacific Northwest would travel to Kamilo, and

Running head: HAWAII’S SEA OF TRASH Flores 9 once they reached Hawaiian Land, the native people would collect the wood to make their ca- noes. With all of the debris and plastic that is being accumulated on the beach, there is no longer use of the wood from the beach or use of the beach at all by the Hawaiian people. It has so many layers of plastic and other debris upon it, that it is almost impossible to conduct any labor on the beach.

Dugout canoes of Hawaii

The Hawaiian people depended on driftwood and the trees provided on their land to build canoes to travel and use the resources of the ocean. The article, “History of Hawaiian Canoes”, mentions that, “The Native Hawaiian's most remarkable achievements would have to be the Ha- waiian canoe, renowned for its fine craftsmanship and design based on the Native Hawaiian's vast knowledge of the sea” (History, 2014). Without the invention of the canoes, the Native

Hawaiian people would have had no means of food or resources.

Building a canoe was more than just a chore. Building a canoe to these people was a very important activity in their lives, including many members of the Hawaiian Ohana (family). Some resources that were used to build these canoes stretched from a large piece of wood for the canoe itself to, plant fibers used as cordage, stone, and wood. In order to build a stable and good working canoe, the skills were learned and developed by elders and passed down through generations. The article also mentions, “From the fine wood of the Koa Tree, Native Hawaiian's were able to hollow a single tree to form a one piece canoe hull, which on average measured between 20- and 30-feet long (6-9 meters)” (History, 2014). After the tree was hollowed out a religious ceremony was held to cast luck onto the canoe itself. If the canoe passed and was deemed able to sail the oceans, the Native people upon the canoe had to catch one fish and bring it back to shore to offer the fish to the fish god Kuula (History, 2014).

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These canoes were very important to the Hawaiian people, which is why the process of making one was not easy. Some of the largest canoes said to have been built in Hawaii are no longer existing. Technology overshadowed the use of canoes in Hawaii, now most people use motor boats to fish for their food, and container ships deliver other goods that aren't readily available on Hawaii’s land. The canoes found in Hawaii today are for sport. They are used to race across the ocean, honoring the ancestors of Hawaii and their creation of the dugout canoes.

Technology has not been the only thing that stopped canoes from being used for fishing in Hawaii. The shores of Hawaii are collecting so much debris, that it is hard to navigate through all of the plastics and other collected garbage when trying to beach one.

In May of 2017, the Hawaii Wildlife Fund discovered nylon fishing net on the shore of

Kamilo and sent them to the island of Oahu, where they would then be used and converted into energy as part of NOAA’s Net-to-Energy program (Herreria, 2017). Kamilo was once a place where the Native Hawaiian people could prosper by using the wood on shore to build canoes that would help the people of Hawaii travel and fish in the ocean. Because of the Anthropocene contributions to the ocean, Hawaiian people had to become innovative by using the beach to ben- efit their people.

Hawaii Nets-to-Energy Program

As Hawaii’s plastic and debris problem become an even bigger issue year after year, the

NOAA tries to come up with new solutions to solving these issues. One of their major contributions to recycling and using what garbage is left on Hawaii’s beaches is the

Nets-to-Energy Program. This program allows for lost nets at sea that have been recovered by divers and people on shore to be recycled by turning them into energy. The fishing nets found along the beaches of Hawaii are not of Hawaiian descent. The local Hawaiian Fisheries do not

Running head: HAWAII’S SEA OF TRASH Flores 11 use fishing gear to catch their fish (Parker, 2013b). There are many different groups that take charge in removing these nets containing plastics, and sometimes animals entangled in them.

Fishermen come across the nets and courteously pick them up out of the water, along with trained divers who directly remove the nets in the ocean environment. What this program does is takes these nets and instead of adding to Hawaii’s landfill and eventually probably ending up in the ocean once again, and turns them into a usable electricity.

How Does it Work?

When the nets are found, they are sent to the Schnitzer Steel Industries: an industry based in Hawaii that conducts recycling of scrap metal. Dianne Parker explains the process in her article, “Hawai’i Nets-to-Energy Program”, by stating, “There, the nets are chopped into small pieces suitable for combustion at the City and County of Honolulu's H-Power energy from the waste facility run by Covanta Energy” (Parker, 2013b). Schnitzer Steel Hawai’i takes the chopped nets to the H-Power facility, where the nets are burned creating steam that drives a turbine creating usable electricity. The entire process and every service included in the process is free. She also suggests,

The Hawai'i Nets-To-Energy program is possible only through the partnership and

support of Hawaii's multi-organizational marine debris group. Since 2002, over 800 tons

of derelict nets have been used to create electricity—enough to power nearly 350 Hawai'i

homes for a year (Parker, 2013b).

Hawaii is making an effort to clean their beaches and finding ways to use these resources that have been given to them. Since the 1800’s the Hawaiian people have used the resources in the ocean and on land to further their survival on the islands. Adapting to the things that are being provided on the islands today, the people of Hawaii are doing the same with the plastic debris

Running head: HAWAII’S SEA OF TRASH Flores 12 washed ashore. Though some action is being taken to reduce the amount of plastic on the shores of Hawaii, it is not enough as the plastics from the ocean currents are always being carried onto the Hawaiian shores.

Plastic in The Food Web

It is evident that plastics have entered almost every part of the ocean. Plastics sit on top of the ocean, sink and float through the middle, and also sink to the very depths of the ocean bur- ring themselves under the sand. In her article “How Plastic In The Ocean Is Contaminating Your

Seafood”, Eliza Barclay mentions the fact that, “The weight of plastic finding its way into the sea each year is estimated to be equivalent to the weight of 40 aircraft carriers” (Barclay, 2013). Be- cause of its lasting life and quantity in the ocean, plastic has entered the food web through con- sumption. One of the biggest issues regarding plastic in the ocean today is the creation of so much of it on land. According to the Arizona state University (2010), “Products composed of plastics also have a dark side, due in part to the very characteristics that make them so desirable- their durability and longevity” (Arizona, 2010). Plastics are made up of chemicals, and even pe- troleum. These additives to plastics is what makes them strong, but in that, it also makes the plas- tic more durable, which is a result in why plastics never fully break down. Plastics and what they contain are everywhere we look, but they are in places we also cannot see, like inside of our bod- ies. The ASU, states that plastics are, “Present in our blood and urine in measurable amounts, in- gested with the food we eat, the water we drink” (Arizona, 2010). As long as we keep producing non-biodegradable plastics, as well as not cleaning them up, they will remain an issue in the ocean, and an issue inside of our bodies.

Chemical Composition of Plastics

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Plastics that enter the ocean contain some chemicals that are harmful for both marine life and humans. There have been measurements from the most contaminated regions of the world's oceans that show the mass of plastics exceeds that of plankton sixfold (Arizona, 2010). If there are more plastics in the ocean than there are plankton, it is evident that contaminated plastics are a huge problem because of their quantity. Each piece of plastic, depending on their strength will contain different types of chemical compositions. The Arizona State University, mentions in their article, “Impact of plastics on human health and ecosystems”, that,

Plastics are polymers-long chains of molecules usually made of carbon, hydrogen,

oxygen and/or silicon, which are chemically linked together or polymerized. Different

polymer chains can be used to create forms of plastics with unique and useful properties

(Arizona, 2010).

Types of plastics like plastic bags are usually mistaken as jelly fish. Many observations have shown that sea turtles often try to eat these bags, resulting in fatality. Other types of plastics like bottle caps are often consumed by sea birds causing fatality as well, because the ability to digest food becomes impossible with hard plastics sitting in their stomach. Another type of chemical used in plastics is BPA, which is a basic building block of polycarbonate plastics (Arizona,

2010). BPA has been studied for years, in search for properties that have the potential to harm animals and humans. The ASU provides evidence that, “BPA has been recognized since the

1940s as an endocrine disrupting chemical that interferes with normal hormonal function” (Ari- zona, 2010). When animals consume plastics, humans can attract these affects of the plastic’s chemicals by consumption of that animal. Not only does BPA affect hormonal function, it can also have potential effects on the brain, behavior and prostate glands of fetuses, and infants and children (Arizona, 2010). Hawaiian people rely on the fish in their ocean as one of their main

Running head: HAWAII’S SEA OF TRASH Flores 14 food sources. If plastics can have an affect on sterility, the Hawaiian population could potentially decline in time.

PBTs

PBTs are persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic chemicals or substances, that can pose a risk to the marine environment. This means that they have the ability to accumulate in living or- ganisms and can travel long distances. Traveling long distances means that there is a higher risk for PBT’s to affect more animals, and people. Trash in the ocean is the biggest health risk for the food chain entirely. The Environmental Protection Agency (2015), mentions in their article, “Im- pacts of Mismanaged Trash”, that “Chemical impacts associated with plastic aquatic trash in- clude the accumulation and transport of persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBTs) contami- nants, such as PCBs and pesticides” (US, 2015a). PCBs are objects that are used in coolants and lubricants, as well as electrical equipment, known to have harmful effects on the environment.

PBTs have shown themselves through multiple trophic levels of the food chain and are very toxic to both humans and marine organisms. Getting rid of PBTs is hard because of their ability to resist degradation, as they can last up to years and even decades. The EPA explains in their studies that,

Even at low concentrations, PBTs can be insidious in the environment due to their ability

to biomagnify up the food web, leading to toxic effects at higher trophic levels even

though ambient concentrations are well below toxic thresholds (US, 2015b).

The reason PBTs are so resistant is not just because of their ability to last so long, but it is their ability to latch onto plastics that are floating throughout the ocean. There is such a high demand for plastic products in the world, that it is impossible to keep them out of the water. Plastic accu-

Running head: HAWAII’S SEA OF TRASH Flores 15 mulation causes PBT accumulation, which then causes harm to all marine life. Plastics are poten- tially magnets for PBTs in the ocean. The tougher the plastic is, the more likely it is to pick up a

PBT along the way. These plastics are found throughout every part of the ocean, giving many or- ganisms access to them. There is no telling exactly what animal a PBT will affect until the con- sumption of a piece of plastic is present.

Animals Affected by Plastic Consumption

Plastics torments the ocean everyday and will continue to do so for years, and decades, as plastic in the environment right now is so abundant, that it is impossible to clean out every piece.

The authors of the article, “Plastics and Microplastics in the Oceans: From Emerging Pollutants to Emerged Threat”, explain that, “A recent analysis revealed that 663 marine species experience adverse effects from interaction with plastic… a 40% increase compared to a previous census”

(Avio, 2017). Many of these species are consumed by both predators in the ocean and humans on land. With that many diverse animals in the ocean already affected by plastics, in time most of the ocean will be affected and that may be a whole other issue. Micro plastics have also been ob- served in organisms with commercial value, as the organisms consumed the plastics whole, which by consumption can cause human health risks (Avio, 2017). Commercial fishing is not only part of what keeps a steady food source for some places, but it is also part of peoples lively hood. When people in Hawaii did not have the ability to get food imported from other places in the world, relying on the resources they had was crucial. Native Fishermen in Hawaii built ca- noes to travel the ocean looking for new lands, but also to fish and bring home food for their peo- ple. People in Hawaii now fish for economic reasons as well as sustainability. If these commer- cial organisms are getting contaminated by toxins when consuming plastic, fishing will be of no use as humans start to absorb toxins, causing health problems to the population of Hawaii.

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Fish that eat plastic

Some of he first discoveries about animals that consumed plastics, were seabirds. On beaches in Hawaii, seabirds were found dead all along beaches. As they died, through decay, plastics were evident in their stomachs and digestive tracts. It wasn't until further research did scientists find that plastics were evident in fish as well. Some of the earliest studies regarding in- gestion of microplstics by wild-Caught fish include coastal species from the United States (Avio,

2017). Linking the United States to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, plastics that drift to these areas from different parts of the world is more likely than not the reason why fish in U.S. waters will consume more plastic than other parts of the world. Barclay brings up a study stating, “A study published recently in Nature, Scientific Reports helps illuminate, sometimes fish get chem- icals from the plastic debris they ingest” (Barclay, 2013). The Anthropocene Era is not only evi- dent through the amount of plastic seen in the ocean but through the affects that plastic has on wild life. Plastics are a sponge for chemicals that enter the ocean and absorb them, when fish eat these plastics the chemicals interact with the juices in the fish’s stomach, while also entering the bloodstream or tissue as the chemicals are released off the plastic ingested (Barclay, 2013). The

Hawaiian culture is dependent on the oceans resources. The average person in Hawaii eats 28.5 pounds of seafood every year (Keli’i, 2017). Almost half of the seafood provided to the Hawai- ian people is caught locally and provides for the community. As Hawaii is also dependent on im- ports, they get 63 percent of their seafood imported from non-local sources (Keli’i, 2017). It is much easier for the people of Hawaii to monitor what is in their seafood that is caught locally, but what they take in from imports may not be as easy. They could potentially have no idea what chemicals they are ingesting because of all the remote places the food comes from. The Univer- sity of Hawaii conducted a scientific research study called, “Mānoa: Plastic for dinner? Big fish

Running head: HAWAII’S SEA OF TRASH Flores 17 eat more than you expect”, on fish in Hawaii to see how much plastic the Hawaiian fish are con- suming. What they came up with is that, “Large, predatory fishes from the offshore waters around Hawai‘i have been ingesting a surprisingly large amount of plastic and other marine de- bris” (University, 2017). Plastics serve as a bright object in the water that looks appealing to the fish and sometimes may look like prey. The researchers also suggest,

Over a six-year period, researchers investigated the stomach contents of 595 fish

representing 10 predatory open-ocean species, including commercially valuable tunas and

billfishes. Seven of the 10 species were found have ingested some form of debris, with

varying degrees of frequency (University, 2017).

Many of these fish are deep water fish which would suggest that the plastics are sinking to depths below the surface because of how heavy they might be, or fish may be coming to the sur- faces consuming top water plastics. These fish are frequently caught by fishermen in Hawaii to be consumed by local Hawaiian people and sold to local Hawaiian restaurants to serve. In order to meet the demand of seafood for the population of Hawaii, there are new efforts to try and cre- ate sustainable fish ponds in Hawaii that provide profound amounts of fish for the Hawaiian community. Not only will the fish ponds create a stable source of food, but they can be moni- tored for chemical intake, and how much plastic is getting into their environment. People will be near the ponds monitoring them as they manage the fish in them.

Smaller animals that matter

There are many animals species in the ocean as this is general knowledge. These species stem from plankton to sharks. Each of these species plays an important roll in the entire opera- tion of the marine ecosystem. There has been recent studies on smaller animals in the ocean that have been affected by plastic. This causes concern because what starts the entire food chain is

Running head: HAWAII’S SEA OF TRASH Flores 18 the smaller animals in the ocean. If these animals are being affected by chemicals and plastic de- bris in the ocean, they are the start to spreading chemicals to other bigger species like fish through consumption. Micro plastics have already been found in invertebrates and fish, and they are now being discovered in animals like gooseneck barnacles. In the article, “Plastics and Mi- croplastics in the Oceans: From emerging to emerged threat”, the authors explain a study con- ducted by stating,

Gooseneck barnacle…from the North Pacific subtropical gyre contained microplastics in

33.5% of examined individuals: from 1 to 3 items were observed in gastrointestinal

tracts, indicating that ingestion of microplastics is a quite common phenomenon in these

filter feeding organisms, with unknown trophic impacts on such rafting communities

(Avio, 2017).

Gooseneck barnacles have been found in Hawaii as they are of the pacific water origin. They are not considered an invasive species and will do no harm to the marine environment in Hawaii.

The main concern for these barnacles at this point, is what is inside of them. If enough of them ingest chemicals and pieces of plastic, what ever eats them could be directly affected which would then cause an issue for the food sources of the Hawaiian people.

Hawaiian Monk Seals

Hawaiian monk seals are animals known to roam the waters near Hawaiian beaches for centuries. The Hawaiian monk seals are Hawaii’s state mammal. They are also known to the Ha- waiian people as, “dog that runs in rough water”. The Native people of Hawaii would often use monk seals for fur and trade. The start to the decline of their population was because of over hunting. The current reason why the Hawaiian monk seals are considered endangered is because, of plastic debris and entanglement because of so much marine debris near the Hawaiian islands.

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Todd Woody took some time to write about one monk seal in particular that means a lot to the

Hawaiian people in his article, “It Takes a Village to Save a Monk Seal. Blue Planet: The Fight to Save The World’s Oceans” (Woody, 2015). Woody explains that on a morning in Hawaii he noticed a seal and its pup on the beach in Hawaii, and tells how he had so much excitement in his mind at that exact moment. He states, “ I happen to be looking at 0.2 percent of the planet’s en- tire population of the critically endangered Hawaiian monk seal” (Woody, 2015). This seal in particular was named Honey Girl by scientist from Hawaii who tagged her to track her move- ments around the ocean. What makes her so special is that she had the ability to produce 9 more monk seals that are thriving in Hawaiian waters. Monk seals in Hawaii have to survive through obstacles such as, carbon intake, plastic, and abandoned fishing nets (Woody, 2015). On the

Northwestern Islands of Hawaii is where most fishing nets and debris are found. In these areas hundreds of monk seals are found every year entangled in nets or choking on plastics. There was an expedition conducted in these areas where 50 monk seal pups were rescued from being entan- gled in fishing line (Woody, 2015). Unfortunately the same thing happened to Honey Girl at a point in her life where she was entangled in fishing line, with a severed tongue and a hook stuck inside of her mouth. She was covered in algae that made her look like a rock on the beach. When someone finally found her and got her help she was saved thankfully by rescuers. This does not just happen to favored seals of Hawaii like Honey Girl, it happens to multiple monk seals caus- ing death adding to reasons why the seals are considered endangered. If Hawaii keeps collecting so much debris in their waters, the population could go extinct. Now that the seals are no longer being hunted and are sacred to the people of Hawaii, efforts are being made to make sure they thrive. These animals are important to the Hawaiian people and are apart of their culture. Plastic

Running head: HAWAII’S SEA OF TRASH Flores 20 consumption and net entanglement could have an affect on which animals they get to experience life with in their waters,, and which populations they lose forever.

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