The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

There is an estimated 200 million TONS of plastic in our planet’s oceans. The majority of this plastic, along with other debris, finds its way to gyres (a circular ocean current), the largest of which being the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, founded by Charles Moore in 1997. The amount of debris in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch accumulates because much of it is not biodegradable. Many plastics, for instance, do not wear down; they simply break into tinier and tinier pieces. Plastics are actually photodegradable, meaning the sun breaks it down into smaller pieces. These little pieces are called  No one knows how much debris makes up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, mainly because the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre is too large for scientists to trawl (fish with a large net along the bottom of a body of water. Denser trash can sink beneath the surface, making the vortex’s area nearly impossible to measure. We do know, however, that about 80% of the debris in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch comes from land in North America and Asia. Trash from the coast of North America takes about six years to reach the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, while trash from Japan and other Asian countries takes about a year. The other 20% of trash in the Patch comes from boaters, offshore oil rigs, and large cargo ships that dump or lose debris into the water. Most of this debris—about 705,000 tons—is fishing nets.

microplastics, most of which can’t always be seen by the naked eye.

So many people ask why it matters if most of this trash gets carried to one place. It is all EXTREMELY harmful to wildlife. One example is the Gyre’s loggerhead sea turtles, who often

mistake plastic bags for jelly fish. Albatrosses mistake plastic resin pellets for fish eggs and feed them to their babies, which die of starvation or ruptured organs. Seals, whales, and other similar species are especially at risk. They can get entangled in abandoned plastic fishing nets, which are being discarded more often because of their low cost. Seals and other mammals often drown in these forgotten nets, an event that has been tagged “ghost fishing”.

Many individuals and international organizations are dedicated to preventing the patch from growing, as no country will take responsibility for it. They prefer to sweep it under the rug, like a kid cleaning his room. Scientists agree that limiting our use of disposable plastics and increasing our use of biodegradable items will be the best way to clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Organizations such as the Plastic Pollution Coalition and the Plastic Oceans Foundation are using social media and direct action campaigns to support the transition from toxic, disposable plastics to biodegradable or reusable materials. Charles Moore, also continues to raise awareness through his own environmental organization, the Algalita Marine Research Foundation. During a 2014 expedition, Moore and his team used aerial drones, to look at the Patch from above. The drones determined that there is 100 times more plastic by weight than previously measured. The team also discovered more permanent plastic features, or islands, some over 15 meters (50 feet) in length, which shows the Garbage Patch is merely growing and becoming more stable. This merely makes it more of a threat to wildlife. Imagine if your house was carpeted in nothing but plastic bottles, cans, shoes, fishing nets, and other trash. Makes you have a whole new respect for what is happening to our wildlife doesn’t it?

 http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/encyclopedia/great-pacific-garbage-patch/?ar_a=1