Plastic Contamination Results: An
octopus inside a personal box of chickpeas was documented this morning (Wednesday) by Nature and Parks Authority volunteer Doron Barsh.
In addition, four spotted mills were documented in the same place.
Various animals, including fish, see the plastic bags as a hiding place or house, and when they discover that this house is migrating with the current and reaches the middle of the water column it is too late to abandon it, and they are forced to stay in it and wash ashore in the plastic bag.
Sometimes the bag becomes a real trap, as it is difficult for the fish to find its way out.
Documentation: Octopus in a box of chickpeas in the Gulf of Eilat // Photo: Doron Barsh Volunteer for the Nature and Parks Authority
Dr. Assaf Zevuluni, an ecologist from the Gulf of Eilat: "I would be happy to see an octopus play and find refuge in oysters and shells and not in plastic boxes that are thrown or find themselves in the sea after being left on the beach and not thrown in the trash.
The wind in the Gulf of Eilat drags the garbage left on the beach into the sea.
Eilat Bay is known for its unique natural values.
We're happy for the public to cooperate and throw the rubbish in the bin. '
In the past we lived in the Stone Age and the Bronze Age, while today there is no doubt that we live in the Plastic Age.
Due to the ease of plastic production and its low cost, modern man produces huge amounts of plastic and it becomes available and very useful.
The problem is that much of the plastic produced is not recycled, and after its use (in many cases the use is disposable) it becomes waste and reaches many ecosystems.
The Gulf of Eilat is an swallow for huge amounts of plastic that the strong northern wind, which characterizes our area, blows from the land to the sea.
Much is already known about the damage that plastic causes to marine ecosystems, such as seabirds swallowing plastic particles and sea turtles swallowing plastic bags, their digestive systems clogging (like in the terrestrial environment chamois, for example, eating sandwiches wrapped in plastic bags left in the field), and dying in agony.
Another example is plastic bags that carry the reef currents, settle on reef creatures such as corals and suffocate them.
Plastic - does not decompose and becomes micro-plastic that pollutes the sea and humans, Photo: Getty Images / iStockphoto
The plastic does not decompose in nature but over the years becomes micro-plastic - tiny plastic particles that float in the water column.
They are easy to spot during low tide: the sea carries them on its waves and when the water recedes, rows of plastic particles washed ashore can be seen on the sand.
The problems that microplastics create are many, and one of the best known is that fish and zooplankton (tiny creatures that live in the water column and prey on other plankton creatures) eat it.
The main concern is not necessarily from the direct damage caused to plankton, but from the chaining: the plankton creatures are preyed upon by larger creatures and they reach the fish, which we also consume, thus creating a process called bioaccumulation.
The Nature and Parks Authority said: "Please help us prevent such cases. Be sure to throw the plastic bags and waste in the trash and do not let them reach the sea. Try to reduce the consumption of plastic utensils and bags as much as possible and use reusable utensils and storage. Remember - in the Gulf of Eilat "Plastic bags and plastic utensils that are left unattended (even without time) end up in the sea with the strong wind."
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