Have you heard of the “garbage patch” in the North Pacific Ocean? Its an area in the North Pacific where marine debris is concentrated by ocean currents. Most people think of the “garbage patch” as a large area of floating debris such as bottles and other litter. In reality, most of the debris is minute particles of plastic invisible to the human eye.
Most people do not realize that plastic, even biodegradable plastic, breaks down into tiny particles, but it takes centuries for it to degrade. These tiny particles of plastic mimic the plankton which is the basis of the food chain. Sea bird, turtles and other marine life fill up on plastic and starve to death.
While the North Pacific garbage patch has gotten the most publicity, their are five similar areas throughout the worlds oceans. There are several features within our oceans that concentrate marine debris, including oceanic eddies and convergence zones.
No one really knows how big the North Pacific garbage patch is because it is an amorphous area that changes with currents and other variables. It is generally thought to be about three times the size of the continental United States. Even less is known about other debris concentrations.
NOAA has also been contacted regarding cleanup of the debris in the “garbage patch” and other areas of the North Pacific; however, cleanup is likely to be more difficult than it may seem. How are you going to filter ocean water in an area bigger than the United States? Realizing that most of the plastic not buried in land fills is going to end up in the ocean, the only practical thing we can do to minimize the impact is to try to keep plastic debris from reaching the ocean.
In recent years, there have been massive efforts by volunteers to clean specific beaches. Still it is like trying to sweep back the tide with a broom.
In some areas where marine debris concentrates so does marine life, such as in the North Pacific Subtropical Convergence Zone. This makes simple scooping up of the material risky--more harm than good may be caused. Remember that much ocean life is in the microscopic size range. For example, straining ocean waters for plastics would capture the plankton that are the base of the marine food web and responsible for 50% of the photosynthesis on Earth… roughly equivalent to all land plants! Also, because this area moves within the North Pacific Ocean (a very large area), one can imagine the difficulty in finding large concentrations on a given day.
This article is based on a NOAA report
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