Sable Island, being off the coast of Nova Scotia, is a very isolated area. I was interested in finding out the quality of the Ocean near the island in terms of pollution. Because it is isolated, I figured there would be very little pollution. However, I was incorrect. I found a study conduscted in to 90's about pollution in the area, mainly pieces of trash and garbage. It turns out that each month 200 pieces of trash float ashore per km of coastline. (This is just counting plastics). Sable island is approximately 40km long, so this trash washes onto the shore at a rate of about 8000 pieces a month. Considering the isolation and lack of human population, thats a lots of trash. The island is home to many forms of marine life. Since there is a lack of humans generally in the area, the island provides isolated beaches and such for marine species. Trash and garbage pieces float ashore and disrupt their haibtat. Pictured above are a herring gull and a seal caught in plastic in 2002. Another negative impact that this garbage has is on search and rescue. Apparently, when rescue missions are required in the area, it is often difficult to distinguish between the search mission and pieces of trash (rescuers can't see the people in danger, or they mistake it for garbage). So even though we are polluting areas along our own shores, humans deposit great amounts of trash that flot long distances and can have severe impacts many miles away.