Buenos Aires: Plastic waste has been discovered in the remote depths of the Mar Del Plata Submarine Canyon off Argentina’s coast highlighting the reach of human activity into deep sea ecosystems.
Researchers used a remotely operated vehicle equipped with high definition cameras to survey the V-shaped canyon, located about 250 kilometres off Argentina’s coast in the southwestern Atlantic.
The research team initially set out to document marine biodiversity and habitats in the canyon. However during 17 dives researchers recorded 29 pieces of litter most of them plastic along with some rubber items.
The first object spotted was a plastic bag tangled on the seafloor at a depth of more than 1,000 metres. The deepest item recorded was a piece of plastic tissue paper packaging at about 3,814 metres or 12,513 feet below the ocean surface.
The litter included fishing gear, plastic bags wrappers a plastic cup and a rubber boot. Researchers also observed marine organisms interacting with some of the debris. A sea star was seen on a plastic bag while marine organisms had colonised a fishing rope.
Marine biologist Diego Urteaga, a co-author of the study said these observations indicate that debris does not simply disappear after reaching the deep sea. Instead it can remain on the seafloor and become part of the physical environment encountered by organisms living there.
The researchers said it remains unclear whether such interactions are harmful neutral or occasionally beneficial to marine organisms.
Although estimates suggest that much marine litter originates on land and reaches the ocean through rivers the researchers believe a substantial share of the waste found in the canyon may have come from offshore activities. The presence of ropes, lines and other fishing related debris supports this possibility.
The findings point to the importance of preventing the loss of fishing equipment and improving the collection and disposal of damaged or unwanted gear.
The discovery also demonstrates how plastic pollution can reach ecosystems far removed from populated coastlines. Researchers said the presence of familiar human made objects among largely unexplored deep sea habitats underlines the growing environmental footprint of human activity in remote parts of the ocean.