5 days ago
- Science
- New Indian Express
Sunk ship and its plastic nurdle spill threaten India's fish breeding lifeline on West Coast
Experts say the spill occurred as the upwelling system was taking shape where monsoon-driven winds lift nutrient-rich deep waters to the surface. This process fuels plankton blooms, sustaining nearly 50% of India's marine fish landings, including small pelagic species like Indian Mackerel (accounting for 30% of marine landings, with India producing 90% of the global supply, 77% from the west coast) and oil sardines.
The region's high productivity, driven by sea surface temperature, salinity, and mixed layer depth, supports a complex food web, linking plankton to larger predatory fish and providing livelihoods for lakhs of fishermen. The spill's timing during the monsoon upwelling period, when productivity peaks, heightens the risk of disrupting this delicate ecosystem.
Sri Lankan X-Press Pearl disaster
The 2021 X-Press Pearl disaster off Sri Lanka offers a precedent for the potential impacts of the MSC ELSA 3 spill. After that container ship caught fire and sank 18 km off Colombo, it released 1,680 tonnes of nurdles, leading to over 600 beached turtles, damaged fishing nets, and nurdles found in fish stomachs, gills, and mouths.
A recent study by international researchers from Denmark, Spain and Sweden on the impact of spilled debris from the X-Press Pearl disaster in Sri Lanka on marine plankton in a peer-reviewed journal revealed acute toxicity from leachates, with phytoplankton (Rhodomonas salina) showing minimal growth inhibition, meroplankton (Paracentrotus lividus larvae) experiencing 94% malformation at high concentrations, and holoplankton (Acartia tonsa nauplii) facing significant hatching reductions. These findings suggests the nurdles' potential to disrupt plankton-based food webs, a critical component of the MUR.
