Paper short abstract:

The backdrop to this paper is a story about the human-induced slow violence of microplastics on the ocean environment and the beings within the ocean. The plot centers on the idea of care—human attempts to remove microplastics from the water with the help of jellyfish bodies.

Paper long abstract:

The backdrop to this paper is a story about the human-induced slow violence of microplastics on the ocean environment and the beings within the ocean (Nixon 2011). The plot centers on the idea of care—human attempts to remove microplastics from the water with the help of jellyfish bodies. Here it is important to ask: who is cared for, and who pays the price for this care? Toward answering these questions, we begin by looking at the impact plastics have on the marine environment as a starting point to understand how the Oceans of today are increasingly affected by human societies. This human impact has led to a situation wherein jellyfish thrive, and their growing numbers have started to become a nuisance for many humans—jellyfish interfere with human infrastructure and fisheries. Meanwhile, it has recently come to light that jellyfish bodies have properties that can be utilized by humans to catch microplastics. This has led to an initiative to create filters for wastewater treatment plants that will use jellyfish bodies to catch microplastics from wastewater in order to mitigate the effects of human pollution. However, in the process of becoming products for various human uses (membrane filters for wastewater plants, nutrients for agriculture, part of human cosmetics, and even food) the jellyfish are killed. Humans thus seek to provide care for the underwater world through the removal of plastics, but in doing so they are (ab)using the bodies of jellies.