Every piece of plastic ever made is still around. It just gets smaller and smaller. Eventually much of it winds up in the sea, lots of which gets mistaken as fish eggs and other types of food.

This video is part of Patagonia’s Ocean As Wilderness campaign. Follow the link to tell your representatives you care about this issue. I saw a similar presentation on this at a Surfrider meeting. Ever since I try to buy as few plastic objects as possible. Plates, knives, cups, products with plastic packaging… whatever. It’s all going to be here forever and it kills.

Sometimes, when I’m in Baja, I fall into the trap of seeing a trash can and thinking it works like America where some big truck comes and takes all the unsightly waste to the landfill. The reality, is often a bit different….

70 just logged the first Ocean Illness Report by a user I don’t personally know. When I recieved notification of the report awaiting moderation and saw the illness listed as Typhoid Fever, I stopped reading and almost denied it on the spot. Typhoid isn’t listed as an illness caused by polluted water in any of the research I’ve done. I did a quick google search, which seemed to suggest it is only contracted through food and drink. Again, I almost denied the report as I am very concerned about the possible reporting of illnesses not related to polluted ocean water. Then, on this page of Cornell University’s site I found this sentence:

Typhoid fever is spread by consuming food or beverages that have been handled by a person who is shedding S. Typhi, or if sewage contaminated with S. Typhi bacteria gets into water used for drinking or washing food.

How much sea water do you swallow in a given session?

I went back to the illness report and read a little further. In the field labled, “Did anyone else get sick at this spot?”, was the answer:

“To my knowledge all of the gringo surfers that live in Sayulita and surf Sayulita on a regular basis, have had Typhoid Fever or currently have some kind of Typhoid count.”

Scary.

A sewer main broke on Oahu March 24th, dumping 48 million gallons of raw sewage into the streets until some quick thinking maintenance crew diverted all the sewage into the Ala Mona Canal. It was later revealed the city never recieved permission to dump the sewage.

One man was admitted to the hospital days after falling (or having been pushed) into the Ala Wai Boat Harbor and getting cut climbing out. He was diagnosed with a cocktail of strep and died a few days later after having his leg amputated in an attempt to save his life.

A woman who surfed Waikiki a day before warning signs went up and received a cut from the reef also was hospitalized. Doctors said her infection was caused by 5 types of bacteria commonly found in poo. More here.

The EPA is calling the dumping the worst spill in our nations history. The city was advized the sewage line would break if not replaced. This was 2 years ago after a 2 million gallon spill. It was also recommended that six (6) more lines needed backup lines.