Autotrophs are organisms that can produce their own nutrients from carbon and sunlight. If algae and plankton communities are threatened, the entire food web may change. Animals that feed on algae and plankton, such as fish and turtles, will have less food. If populations of those animals decrease , there will be less food for apex predators such as tuna, sharks, and whales.
Eventually, seafood becomes less available and more expensive for people. These dangers are compounded by the fact that plastics both leach out and absorb harmful pollutants. As plastics break down through photodegradation, they leach out colorants and chemicals, such as bisphenol A BPA , that have been linked to environmental and health problems. Conversely, plastics can also absorb pollutants, such as PCBs, from the seawater. These chemicals can then enter the food chain when consumed by marine life.
Many individuals and international organizations, however, are dedicated to preventing the patch from growing. Cleaning up marine debris is not as easy as it sounds. Many microplastics are the same size as small sea animals, so nets designed to scoop up trash would catch these creatures as well. Even if we could design nets that would just catch garbage, the size of the oceans makes this job far too time-consuming to consider.
Many expeditions have traveled through the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Charles Moore, who discovered the patch in , continues to raise awareness through his own environmental organization, the Algalita Marine Research Foundation. During a expedition , Moore and his team used aerial drones, to assess from above the extent of the trash below. The drones determined that there is 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. Scientists and explorers agree that limiting or eliminating our use of disposable plastics and increasing our use of biodegradable resources 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 individuals, manufacturers, and businesses in their transition from toxic , disposable plastics to biodegradable or reusable materials.
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2. Quotable Captain "So on the way back to our home port in Long Beach, California, we decided to take a shortcut through the gyre, which few seafarers ever cross. Fishermen shun it because its waters lack the nutrients to support an abundant catch. Sailors dodge it because it lacks the wind to propel their sailboats.
In the week it took to cross the subtropical high, no matter what time of day I looked, plastic debris was floating everywhere: bottles, bottle caps, wrappers, fragments. Months later, after I discussed what I had seen with the oceanographer Curtis Ebbesmeyer, perhaps the world's leading expert on flotsam, he began referring to the area as the 'eastern garbage patch.
Strange Cargo When ships are caught in storms, they often lose cargo to the oceans. The following are just a few of the strange items that have washed up on shores:. Also called an alpha predator or top predator. The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit. The Rights Holder for media is the person or group credited.
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Indonesia — China — India — Plastic pollution destroys our marine life and ocean biodiversity and countries with a higher GDP tend to cause the most damage. Whilst plastic is a useful material and has many societal functions - its durable composition means that it takes much longer to break down. For example, plastic microbeads a mostly globally banned element normally found in cosmetics cause harm to marine life and never biodegrade, thus affecting the environment long after they have been introduced to the water supply.
They also contain toxic chemicals which are consumed by fish and then can eventually enter the human supply chain. We can reduce our plastic consumption in a number of affordable ways but the easiest ones include replacing single-use plastics with reusable alternatives. Buying a reusable water bottle or a reusable coffee mug saves you money in the long run and is good for the environment. You can also purchase unpackaged goods from your local supermarket. In the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and California floats a massive collection of debris that has long been accumulating trash — from fishing nets to microplastics — known to be harmful to the marine environment.
For years, researchers said it might not be possible to remove the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, but now, one non-profit is proving them wrong. In July, The Ocean Cleanup, which has been developing a system to help clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, took its first large-scale cleanup system, called System , or Jenny, to the Pacific. They conducted a series of tests over the course of 12 weeks, each one consisting of the system being taken offshore to safely gather plastic from the ocean.
The organization completed its final test of the system last week, and on October 14, The Ocean Cleanup tweeted it had gathered 9, kilograms — more than 19, pounds — of debris. Among the haul were items such as toilet seats, toothbrushes, laundry baskets, shoes, sleds and fishing gear. In total, the organization says, it collected 63, pounds of plastic from the ocean during its test extractions.
This is what kg of ocean plastic looks like inside the retention zone and on deck. Massive load. Slat said that 10 years ago, when he first learned about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, everyone told him "there was no hope of ever cleaning it up.
A post shared by The Ocean Cleanup theoceancleanup. In a statement on Wednesday, the organization said it is now using the Jenny system to clean up the patch while also working on scaling up the design to System , "which is expected to be the blueprint designing for scaling to a fleet of systems. In , research estimated that there are at least 79, tons of plastic inside a 1.
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