April 22, 2024 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
It’s hard to live near or visit our beautiful ocean without coming across marine debris. Trash is leftover by beachgoers and coastal communities; garbage is carried across the ocean from distant shores; lost and abandoned fishing gear floats away on winds and currents. This debris becomes hazardous to life on shore and at sea. Balloons are a particularly pervasive form of marine debris—and some fishermen are going the extra (nautical) mile to address.
A small group of fishermen are making a big impact by catching more than just seafood on their fishing trips, collecting any balloons they see while out on the water. We recognize their stewardship this Earth Day and invite you to join in their efforts to combat marine debris, one balloon at a time!
Balloons Cause Harm on Land and Sea
The act of releasing balloons—deliberately or not—may seem harmless. But no matter how far they travel, balloons eventually return to Earth and wash up in our ocean, Great Lakes, and waterways. In 2019 alone, volunteers around the globe collected more than 104,000 balloons during the annual International Coastal Cleanup organized by the Ocean Conservancy. Approximately half of those balloons were found in the United States. One of the most common types of balloons found on these coastal cleanups are Mylar, also known as foil, balloons. Mylar is crafted from plastic nylon sheets with metal coating, which can conduct electricity.
On land, Mylar balloons can become entangled with power lines and circuit breakers. Their conductivity causes power outages with thousands occurring in California every year alone. Many wayward balloons also end up in the ocean, where they sink down to pollute habitats far below the surface. A 2013 expedition by NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer discovered balloon remnants in approximately half their deep sea dives—including a Mylar balloon wrapped around a dead deep-sea coral nearly a mile under the ocean surface. And because Mylar balloons never biodegrade, they will linger where they land forever. Through exposure to winds, waves, and the sun, a Mylar balloon that lands on the ocean surface will break into smaller and smaller pieces, eventually creating microplastics that may never go away.