[지구한바퀴] After two years, there’s a mountain of ‘marine litter’ once more… regardless of how a lot we clear it, there isn’t any finish to the sight.

◀ Reporter ▶

Though it’s invisible to the attention, quite a lot of waste sinks into the ocean.

Assortment work is carried out yearly, however it’s stated that the extra waste is collected, the earlier it’s despatched away once more.

We coated the rubbish pick-up that came about once more off the coast of Yeongdo, Busan, the place rubbish was collected from the ocean two years in the past.

◀ Assertion ▶

Divers and a movie crew enter the ocean in entrance of Bongrae Port in Yeongdo, Busan.

Once we obtained to the underside of the ocean, we noticed tires that appeared to have fallen off after being put in to stop fishing boats from crashing.

Plastic buckets have turn into a house for crabs.

The electrical rice cooker can be sinking, and sea anemones are popping out of the underwater toaster as a substitute of bread.

[김종규/한국해양구조협회 부산지부 잠수팀장]

“Waste tires, nets, fish traps, bicycles… It’s extremely unhealthy beneath the ground.”

These things had been tied with rope and mounted on a big mast.

Massive tires are nonetheless popping out on land, and motorbikes are coming alongside too.

It rapidly fills one aspect of the dock.

The issue is that the garbage was collected a while in the past from the identical place.

Right here, even the yr earlier than final, a lot rubbish was taken out from beneath the ocean.

Nonetheless, in simply two years, a lot waste was created once more, accumulating sufficient to fill the dock.

Rubbish on the coast or the floor of the ocean is not less than seen, but when it sinks like this, it’s troublesome to gather.

In 2020, about 140,000 tons of rubbish was collected from the coasts and oceans of Korea, and about 13% was saved from the ocean.

[김병엽/제주대 교수 · 고래·해양생물보전연구센터장]

“Should you have a look at all fishing grounds, there may be quite a lot of sediment waste. Disturbing the marine life habitat… It is extremely unhealthy, however there isn’t any correct research but. ”

Litter within the sea not solely destroys the marine ecosystem, but it surely additionally turns into microplastics, which may have a deadly impact on people.

[김형민/부산해양경찰서장]

“What I throw away in entrance of my home flows and flows and goes again to the ocean, and what rots and rots within the sea can go to fish and are available again to me.”

In April final yr, the federal government introduced that it will improve the quantity of marine litter collected, saying it was an revolutionary measure.

Nonetheless, the gathering quantity, which was 126,000 tons in 2022, solely elevated by about 6,000 tons to 132,000 tons final yr.

There may be an pressing want to ascertain a system to cut back the era of marine litter and systematically gather it.

That is Minwook Kim from MBC Information.

Video Broadcast: Wi Dong-won / Underwater Pictures: Koo Bon-won / Video Modifying: Choi Moon-jeong