On August 21, 2017, Environmental Coastal & Offshore (ECO), published an article explaining that small fish are driven by scent to eat plastic.
"When a small fish, like an anchovy, is eaten by a larger predator, whatever is in that smaller fish extends up the entire food chain. That’s why it’s important for us to understand why more than fifty marine species seem driven to ingest plastic debris."
10 million tonnes of litter end up in the oceans every year. That is one garbage truck per minute, 400 kilos per second. Millions of marine animals die every year because of marine litter, including sea birds, seals, whales, dolphins and turtles. In some areas, micro plastics already outnumber plankton by six to one. And the prospects for the future look grim: by 2050, there could be more plastic than fish in the seas and 99% of seabirds could have ingested plastic.
Like NAMEPA, PlasticChange.org is working towards a marine environment free of plastic pollution. They recently released a short, entertaining video on YouTube that depicts the issue from a slightly different perspective. Bravo!