\n<\/p>\n
Many of these plastics eventually break down into microplastics, which enter the food chain and affect organisms from plankton to whales and eventually, humans.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sea turtles, for example, often mistake plastic bags for jellyfish, one of their natural food sources, said Dr Mowe.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201c(Consuming plastic bags) gives them a false sense of satiation. They feel full but they\u2019re not getting any nutrients from the plastic,\u201d she said. \u201cThis (affects) all animals \u2013 fish, invertebrates and so on. Trash (inadvertently) gets eaten by a lot of animals in the sea.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Marine animals can also die after ingesting litter. Sharp plastic fragments can puncture internal organs, while plastic bags can cause intestinal blockages that prevent them from feeding, ultimately leading to starvation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The importance of protecting marine ecosystems extends beyond individual species, said marine biologist Dr Sylvia Earle.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“The ocean is 97 per cent of the biosphere where life exists. This is not just rocks and water. This is a living system. We need the planet alive, functioning in our favour,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She stressed that human activities are increasingly altering the ocean’s ability to sustain life, underscoring the need for stronger conservation efforts and public action.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Locally, organisers are calling for stronger enforcement against littering, particularly during late-night hours when offences may go unnoticed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They are also encouraging more Singaporeans to participate in clean-up efforts, not only along the nation’s coastlines but within neighbourhoods and heartland communities, in the hope of tackling litter before it reaches the ocean.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Many of these plastics eventually break down into microplastics, which enter the food chain and affect organisms from plankton to whales and eventually, humans.\u00a0 Sea…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":59081,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dam.mediacorp.sg\/image\/upload\/s--flj0-Ajz--\/c_fill,g_auto,h_676,w_1200\/fl_relative,g_south_east,l_mediacorp:cna:watermark:2021-08:cna,w_0.1\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1\/mediacorp\/cna\/image\/2026\/06\/08\/beach_clean_up_east_coast.png?itok=owE2zN8p","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[14769,3538,5022,209,6961,24390,16021],"class_list":["post-59080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-news-sg-global","tag-beaches","tag-growing","tag-numbers","tag-singapores","tag-tackle","tag-trash","tag-volunteers","wpcat-2-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=59080"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59080\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/59081"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=59080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=59080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=59080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}