There is Hope to Solve the Plastic Crisis

By Safina Center Junior Fellow Belén Garcia Ovide

©Sofie Bang: Clean up in one of the shores near Húsavík, Iceland

Earlier this month, world leaders from more than 175 nations agreed to finally forge a global treaty to restrict plastic pollution by 2024! At last, there seems to be momentum around the problem of plastic pollution.

Starting now, up until 2025, the Icelandic Ministry of the Environment has pledged to do their part to support local groups and organizations (including Ocean Missions) who are fighting the plastic problem. This pledge will lead to significant synchronized cleaning efforts all over Iceland. The goal of this project is to help clean up the coastline of Iceland, estimate the scale of the plastic problem, and join forces with other European countries to bring efficient solutions to the matter.

When I am guiding on whale watching boats and ask the tourists on board, why Iceland? Very often I hear the same answer: Iceland? Because of its “pristine” nature, of course!

Today, there isn’t any part of the Arctic Ocean untouched by plastic pollution. When you look at the Icelandic coastline, these vast and sparsely populated landscapes of Iceland, are not pristine anymore. They have been distorted, especially at the shores, with artificial, shiny colors. Even in the most isolated places, where access is only possible by small boats and under certain weather conditions, we find traces of plastic pollution. Fishing gear, containers, and small old plastic items are often sighted at the beach. We know that the confluence of different currents in Iceland is bringing trash from all over Europe, Russia, and South America and that the local east-going circular Icelandic current is making some areas much more polluted than others, including protected national parks (e.g., Hornstrandir in the West fjords) and Grímsey Island, the most northern settlement of Iceland.

In the ocean, bycatch/entanglement in fishing gear is a serious threat to cetaceans. Charla Basran, member of Ocean Missions and Post-doc at the University of Iceland, determined recently through scar-based analysis that at least 25% of Icelandic humpback whales have been entangled. Other studies show how plastics are ending up in the stomachs of seabirds that come to Iceland every summer, such as fulmars, gannets, and puffins. During our citizen science expeditions (2019-2022) in Icelandic waters, we estimate that microplastics are present in at least 70% of the surveys. Large migratory rorquals are coming to these nutrient rich waters to feed every summer on tiny prey like krill and small fish, likely ingesting microplastics in the process. We don’t yet know how plastic pollution is impacting their feeding behavior.

Although we know more now than ever before about this problem in Iceland, we still have many things to learn. It is time to synchronize local and international efforts and to keep working! By being involved in this project, it proves that although Ocean Missions is a relatively “new player” in the Icelandic nature conservation picture, our previous local efforts on ocean conservation and spreading our concerns about plastic pollution have helped ignite the spark for the governments to listen and react in time on one of the most pressing environmental issues of our time.

Everyone counts and everyone needs to be onboard!

©Sofie Bang: Langanes Clean up project“ in 2021, at the coasts of the most north eastern tip of Iceland.