misty m: Garbage Patch in the Pacific Ocean

A friend of mine told me about this floating garbage patch in the Pacific and decided to find out more information about it. I never heard of the event and was very curious. I listened to the National Public Radio, a Sea Captain that first discovered the plastic garbage patch. It turns out that the patch is twice the size of Texas. The area was calm and windless. Low flying planes and ships can see the patch. The depth of the trash can be thirty feet below the surface. No one really paid too much attention to the patch because it is not a common way of travel. This Great Pacific Garbage Patch is of growing concern due to the possibility of marine animals feeding off the plastic particles in the patch.

The patch in the eastern Pacific “consists of 80% plastics and weights some 3.5 million tons” (SFGate). This accumulation is occurring because of the currents in the area. As seen in the image below, the circular motion keeps the garbage rotating in the area.

Some of the garbage is making its way onshore in the western United States. With such a large amount of garbage comes a large amount of animals trapped. According to the Greenpeace, “at least 267 different species are known to have suffered from entanglement and ingestion of marine debris including seabirds, turtles, seals, sea lions, whales and fish” (www.unep.org). Majority of the debris, 80%, are land base garbage and the remaining are ocean based. There are efforts from countries around the world to clean up the mess made by many industrialized countries. Unfortunately, it seems as though the problems will persist so long as we use synthetic materials and dispose of them inappropriately. People believe that zero waste may be the solution to the problem. The only drawback is getting people to zero waste every aspect of their lives. This would be the hardest step. The floating garbage patch is out there in the ocean waiting to be cleared but when it will happen I do not know.