• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • About Us
    • FAQ
  • Contact us
  • Guest Content
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Elevenses
  • Business
  • Food
  • Travel
  • Property
  • JOBS
  • All
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Sport
    • Tech/Auto
    • Lifestyle
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Set For Life
      • Thunderball
      • EuroMillions
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
NEWSLETTER
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home News Environment

Hundreds of sharks and rays entangled in plastic debris discarded by humans

More than a thousand sharks and rays are known to have become entangled in plastic debris with “significantly greater number of species” likely to be affected, a study found. Scientists at the University of Exeter found reports of 1,116 of the creatures caught up in plastic in the world’s oceans after scouring existing studies and […]

Ollie McAninch by Ollie McAninch
2019-07-05 16:22
in Environment
FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmailWhatsapp

More than a thousand sharks and rays are known to have become entangled in plastic debris with “significantly greater number of species” likely to be affected, a study found.

Scientists at the University of Exeter found reports of 1,116 of the creatures caught up in plastic in the world’s oceans after scouring existing studies and social media.

The true number is likely to be far higher, the researchers said, calling debris from land-based pollution and discarded fishing gear a “severely under-reported threat”.

The researchers reviewed existing studies and also appealed for information on Twitter, fearing that the issue had been pushed “under the radar” by threats such as over-fishing.

Co-author Professor Brendan Godley, co-ordinator of the university’s marine strategy, said: “Due to the threats of direct overfishing of sharks and rays, and ‘bycatch’ (accidental catching while fishing for other species), the issue of entanglement has perhaps gone a little under the radar.

“We set out to remedy this. Our study was the first to use Twitter to gather such data, and our results from the social media site revealed entanglements of species – and in places – not recorded in the academic papers.”

Dozens of species were affected including whale sharks, great whites, tiger sharks and basking sharks.

The majority of the entanglements involved abandoned, lost or discarded fishing equipment, known as ghost fishing gear.

There were also reports of the creatures, which are classed as elasmobranchs, trapped in plastic packing straps, bags, packaging, elastic cords and clothing.

RelatedPosts

World’s biggest plastic polluter, Coca-Cola, forced to remove greenwashing packaging claims by EU

Badenoch and Farage among speakers at ‘Glastonbury for climate deniers’

Norway is on the cusp of phasing out fossil fuel cars

‘Megaberg’ twice the size of London as broken free into the ocean

The scientists acknowledged that entanglement is a “far lesser threat” than commercial fishing, but said it remains a “major animal welfare concern”, with possible conservation implications.

Authors of the study, published in Endangered Species Research, wrote: “If elasmobranchs are susceptible to entanglement in anthropogenic debris, this could have potential negative implications on rapidly declining populations.

“Entanglement can lead to starvation, suffocation, immobilisation and ultimately death, making this unequivocally an animal welfare issue, if not of conservation relevance.”

They said that there were alarmed to see reports regarding whale shark entanglement made on social media, compared to none in published studies.

They added: “This emphasises that entanglement is more than likely impacting a significantly greater number of species on a vastly larger scale than this review has presented.”

They are calling for a “citizen science platform” to be set up via a website or smartphone app to help crowdsource reports.

The researchers have worked with the Shark Trust, a Plymouth-based charity, to create an online report form to gather data on entanglements.

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

SUPPORT

We do not charge or put articles behind a paywall. If you can, please show your appreciation for our free content by donating whatever you think is fair to help keep TLE growing and support real, independent, investigative journalism.

DONATE & SUPPORT

Contact

Editorial enquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Commercial enquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Address

The London Economic Newspaper Limited t/a TLE
Company number 09221879
International House,
24 Holborn Viaduct,
London EC1A 2BN,
United Kingdom

© The London Economic Newspaper Limited t/a TLE thelondoneconomic.com - All Rights Reserved. Privacy

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Lottery Results
    • Lotto
    • Set For Life
    • Thunderball
    • EuroMillions
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • JOBS
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© The London Economic Newspaper Limited t/a TLE thelondoneconomic.com - All Rights Reserved. Privacy

← Treasury spends £3m on year-long contract for external Brexit lawyers ← Tommy Robinson faces jail after being found in contempt of court
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Lottery Results
    • Lotto
    • Set For Life
    • Thunderball
    • EuroMillions
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • JOBS
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© The London Economic Newspaper Limited t/a TLE thelondoneconomic.com - All Rights Reserved. Privacy

-->