Everyone knows that pollution is bad. We all do it to some extent, despite our efforts to minimize it. Often, we can get caught up in the mindset that a little bit of pollution or one littered item can’t hurt anything. However, this isn’t true. Scientists have discovered that even the smallest amounts of plastics in a fish’s habitat can cause major health problems (1). For instance, you drop a water bottle into the water from a boat. You’d think that this would have no effect on the fish that inhabit that water, but it does. Bits of plastic as small as half a millimeter can be eaten by small fish (1). In fact, fish tend to eat these bits quite often. They are unable to distinguish the difference between food and these bits of plastic. These pollutants not only affect adult fish but also prevent eggs from hatching, stunted growth, and increase their chances of being predated (1). These effects can cause major harm to not only an individual, but an entire population, community, and ecosystem. Populations can easily dwindle due to exposure to plastic. This can have a large effect on a community or ecosystem in many ways. For instance, if Northern Pike in Lake Erie prey on perch and the perch population is dwindling due to plastic, then the pike population can also begin to decline (2). This can then have an effect on other fish populations that are no longer predated by the pike, causing their population to soar and throwing the balance of the ecosystem out of whack. So next time you don’t care about that bottle falling out of a boat or you miss the trash can and don’t want to pick it up, think about the effect that you are having on our fish and their ecosystem!
Bibliography
1. Plastic cups found in fish. (1975). Marine Pollution Bulletin, 6(10), 148. doi:10.1016/0025-326x(75)90178-2
2. What do Northern Pike Eat? (2017, February 13). Retrieved September 26, 2017, from http://exc-adventures.com/what-do-northern-pike-eat/