There’s a collection of trash extending from the west coast of North America all the way to Japan. It’s become known as “The Great Pacific Garbage Patch.”
This “patch” of trash is a result of garbage being collected and trapped in various currents and gyres across the Pacific.
This colossal patch is identified by its extremely high concentrations of a variety of plastics, “chemical sludge”, and a cocktail of random debris such as fishing nets and buoys.
Though the title “garbage patch” suggests a giant pile of trash, this isn’t the case. Outreach Specialist Asma Mahdi of NOAA explains on their website, “It’s not a floating island of trash, like a garbage dump or a landfill. A garbage patch is made up of tiny plastic pieces called ‘microplastics’ that are less than 5 millimeters long. It’s more like pepper flakes swirling in a soup than something you can skim off the surface.”
So, simply scooping it up and removing it is extremely difficult and unrealistic, especially because it’s all constantly moving with currents. Mahdi continued, “There’s debris from the ocean’s surface all the way down to the seafloor. Not to mention all the marine life we would disrupt if we tried to just scoop up debris.”
The best course of action? Keeping more plastics from entering the oceans in the first place.
Learn more here:
