Cape fur seals sunbathing on docks and Cape clawless otters swimming through pools may sound like a wildlife lover's dream, but at Cape Town's V&A Waterfront, these animals also serve as a reminder of how plastic pollution is endangering animals and threatening coastal communities.
What's happening?
The V&A Waterfront is one of Africa's top tourism destinations, and it is also home to marine wildlife including the seals and otters. The waterfront attracts 25 million visitors annually, and the harbor has spaces for wildlife as well as seal monitors who ensure that seals are safe from the public by conducting wellness checks. Since 2018, they have performed over 500 plastic entanglement removals from Cape fur seals.
"You feel like the seals are kind of like messengers from the ocean," Martine Viljoen, who manages the monitors, said, according to Africanews. "They're bringing back this message of what's happening out there. … We're finding that a lot of seals, they're coming in to our harbour space, hauling up, and they are all entangled in these loops of plastic.''
Monitors often find the seals wrapped in box straps, nets, ropes, or plastic bags that cut into their bodies as they grow. Plastic pollution can asphyxiate wildlife or block animals' digestive tracts, which can lead to slow, painful deaths and serious injuries.
Why is plastic pollution in coastal communities concerning?
Marine plastic pollution impacts 86% of all sea turtle species, 44% of all seabird species, and 43% of all marine mammal species, and these impacts indicate what happens offshore. Today, an estimated 33 million tons of plastics pollute the ocean, and another 120 million tons pollute rivers.
Plastic pollution jeopardizes communities such as Cape Town that rely on clean waterways for tourism, recreation, and agriculture. Plastic debris decreases tourism, interferes with waterway navigation, and hinders crop growth. A recent study found that 100% of sampled water in Cape Town contained microplastics, which have been shown to harm reproductive, digestive, and respiratory health in humans.
Without intervention, plastic use is projected to nearly triple by 2060.
What is being done about plastic pollution?
Experts believe up to 80% of the annual plastic flow into the environment could be stopped using existing technologies and systems as well as making changes such as improving waste collection, switching to alternative materials, and reusing packaging.
Reusing just 10% of plastic packaging could prevent nearly half of ocean plastic pollution. You can reduce your plastic waste by switching to reusable containers, supporting bulk shops, and properly sorting recyclables.
Preventing plastic pollution keeps wildlife and people healthy, and community-led efforts such as those in Cape Town demonstrate how animals can signal ecological problems — and how we can help them before it's too late.
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