Syma, I recommend the work of Charles Moore on plastics in the ocean. A short video that captures the importance of his findings is available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8a4S23uXIcM. For teaching purposes, I also recommend the visuals of environmental artist Chris Jordan, who presents the scale of the problem in ways that grab students. A sample of his work is online at: http://www.ted.com/talks/chris_jordan_pictures_some_shocking_stats.html <http://www.ted.com/talks/chris_jordan_pictures_some_shocking_stats.html > . The effects of plastics on marine food chains is not well understood, though pretty clear in the case of many sea birds and some sea turtles. There is growing concern about the possibility that the vertical migration of lanternfish and other marine organisms places them in harms way in vast regions of the ocean that now provide a photodecomposed plastic "soup" mixed with phytoplankton. Cheers, Monty
___________________________________ Lamont (Monty) C. Hempel, Ph.D. Hedco Professor of Environmental Studies and Director, Center for Environmental Studies Lewis Hall 140 University of Redlands 1200 E. Colton Ave. Redlands, CA 92373-0999 Tel: 909.748.8589 Fax: 909.335.5388 E-Mail: monty_hem...@redlands.edu <mailto:monty_hem...@redlands.edu> ___________________________________ ________________________________ From: owner-gep...@listserve1.allegheny.edu [mailto:owner-gep...@listserve1.allegheny.edu] On Behalf Of syma ebbin Sent: Tuesday, January 05, 2010 12:39 PM To: gep-ed@listserve1.allegheny.edu Subject: plastics in the ocean Dear Gep-ers, A quick query as I put my syllabus together for the spring. I'm teaching a new course on fisheries policy and at the same time we're having an exhibit of scultpure by Susan Schultz (whose porcelain sculptures examine wracklines, pacific plastics and marine debris). I want to have my class visit the exhibit and then discuss impacts of marine debris/plastics on fish/fisheries. I've had trouble locating a good and recent overview article on this issue. Any ideas or suggestions? I may also veer into the entanglement issue. Similarly, I'd welcome a good reference on MarPol or other marine debris policy instruments (domestic or international). If anybody has any pertinent references on any of these issues I would be most grateful. Happy New Year! cheers, Syma >>(((((*>~~~~>>(((((*>~~~~>>(((((*>~~~~ Syma A. Ebbin, PhD.
