Shelby Turner Pd. 8Maritime Problem: Ocean Rubbish Problem - Malaysia Airlines More than three weeks after the disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines jet, one thing has become clear: the ocean is literally full of trash. Environmental scientists are concerned because it is described as "trying to find a needle in a needle factory" as they searched for the plane. With the eyes of the world now searching throughout Asian waters for any sign of the plane that was more than 240 feet long and weighed more than 700,000 pounds, the scale of the ocean debris problem has become clear. Debris from the plane was suspected to be in the southern Indian Ocean, but was found closer to the Australian coast. As the debris was found closer to the coast, some of it will later end up washed up on the coasts of Australia and other possible countries/continents. This can cause several problems, one reason is that airplanes are largely made of aluminum. Aluminum can be very harmful to marine organisms because its ions can react with phosphates, making it less available to marine organisms. Other problems include organisms becoming entangled in the trash, choking on any pieces of trash and scrap metal. Marine organisms are endangered and threatened by debris in the ocean. As well as being a danger to Australia's coasts, the debris is a danger to the corals surrounding Western Australia. Located along the western part of Australia is their unique fringing reef. This coral is found in Coral Bay and is called Ningaloo Reef; many different species roam this area such as turtles and whale sharks. Turtles use the coast along which this coral begins to nest. If no chips are collected, the pieces... in the center of the paper... Aluminum Recycling Prices/rlines-plane. (n.d.). . Retrieved from http://www.benefits-of-recycling.com/aluminumrecyclingprices/Irwin, R. (n.d.). ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINANTS. . Retrieved from http://www.nature.nps.gov/hazardssafety/tossici/diesel.pdf (Page 10)Williams, B., & Williams, D. (n.d.). Coral Bay – Western Australia. . Retrieved from http://www.coralbay.org/Ningaloo Turtle Program. (n.d.). . Retrieved from http://www.ningalooturtles.org.au/Dangerous Debris. (n.d.). . Retrieved from http://see-the-sea.org/topics/pollution/debris/dangerous_debris.htm Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. (n.d.). . Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysia_Airlines_Flight_370Adams, C., Lindberg, B., & Stevely, J. (n.d.). The economic benefits associated with Florida's artificial reefs. . Retrieved from http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fe649