The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, Exercises of Marine Science and Biology

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The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

By: Veronica Green

A Floating Problem for Marine Life

https://oceancruisingclub.org/home/News/ What is an Ocean Garbage Patch? A garbage patch is a cluster of garbage that has accumulated in the ocean, creating a floating island of litter. These “islands” are created by gyres. A Gyre is a current that rotates, pulling objects in. With all of the litter in the sea, the gyres are creating floating islands of trash. http://b.parsons.edu/~pany468/parsons/political_website/source2/index.html The largest and most widely known garbage patch is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch located in the Pacific ocean. Since garbage patches are constantly moving, they are hard to measure. According to The Ocean Cleanup website, the size is estimated to be about twice the size of Texas (roughly 617,700 square miles). With a mass of in the region of around 80,000 tons, there is estimated to be around 1.1 to 3. trillion plastic pieces floating within the Great Pacific Garbage Patch alone.

The Source: The obvious source of these garbage patches is humans. According to a research done by Duncan A Rouch in January of 2021, the plastic production has continued to increase since the production of plastic started in 1950. 40 years later, plastic production jumped from 5 million tons to 100 million tons, a 1,900% increase, and has continued to increase. Where does this plastic end up? A very small portion gets recycled, while a good portion ends up in our oceans and landfills.

Who Is Affected? https://journals.openedition.org/factsreports/ The affect of plastic pollution on marine life is clear. A quarter of all fish have tested to contain plastic in them. However, fish are not the only one’s affected by this mass plastic problem in the oceans. Sea animals are also affected. Animals from sea lions to sea turtles and dolphins to whales feel the effects. Since plastic is not bio-degradable, it has done a number to our oceans and sea life. Animals can get entangled or mistake harmful garbage for food.

MARINE LIFE:

What Can We Do????

Our earth is covered in more than 70% water, that

makes this a global problem!

What can be done to help the garbage problem in our

oceans?

1. Recycle

Take part in recycling! If everyone made sure to recycle what

they could, it would greatly cut down on plastic pollutions

2. Reduce single-use plastics

Single-use plastics are items that contain plastics for single use

purposes. Such as plastic grocery bags, straws, water bottles,

silverware, cups, etc. Even bringing your own reusable canvas

bags to carry groceries can make a small difference.

3. Take part in clean up activities

There are so many programs out there that host clean up

activities for beaches and other water sources. You can also hold

your own clean up activity or take the initiative to do it on your

own.

4. Be aware and share!

Educate yourself and others of the plastic pollution problem.

Works Cited

“WHAT IS THE GREAT PACIFIC GARBAGE PATCH?” The Ocean Cleanup , https://theoceancleanup.com/great-pacific-garbage-patch. “Garbage Patches” NOAA Marine Debris Program , https://marinedebris.noaa.gov/info/patch.html. Rouch, Duncan. (2021). Plastic future: How to reduce the increasing environmental footprint of plastic packaging. Hanna Ritchie and Max Toser (2018). “Plastic Pollution”. https://ourworldindata.org/plastic- pollution. Evan Lubofsky (2018). “Junk Food – Do Microplastics in the Ocean Pose Health Risks?”. https://www.whoi.edu/oceanus/feature/junk-food/. Katie Forster (2016). “Microplastics in the sea a growing threat to human health, United Nations warns”. https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/microplastics- microbeads-ocean-sea-serious-health-risks-united-nations-warns-a7041036.html.