An Island Made of Garbage: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Between California and Hawaii, a garbage patch of 80,000 tonnes of plastic is building up. Almost twice the size of Texas or three times the size of France, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is the currently the largest garbage-accumulated patch in the Northern Pacific Oceans. The garbage patch is comprised of garbage and marine debris accumulated over a long period. This marine debris insists of nonbiodegradable materials such as plastics and micro-plastics which are not visible through human eyes. It is estimated that up to 2.5 million tonnes of plastics are entering the ocean each year from the rivers.

Half of the plastic that enters the ocean is less dense than the water, meaning that it will not sink once entered the ocean. Once this plastic enters the ocean current, it is then broken into smaller pieces of microplastics with the effect of sunlight, waves and marine organisms. Not able to sink under the ocean but float on the surface, the size of garbage patch is increasing, in thus bringing larger consequences to the relentless productivity of what the humans have done.

In 2016, there was an expedition held by a Netherlands team to find solutions to resolve the accumulation of garbage on the ocean. To understand the physical properties of the plastic garbage,  samples of microplastics were collected and brought back to the Netherlands. To understand what effect this garbage has on ocean life, plastic samples from the expeditions were collected to test their chemical levels.

Plastics have become a ubiquitous substance found all over the sea. It’s various size and colors confuse the animals to think plastics as their food source. As well as microplastics, fishing nets have also become the dangers of marine animals. Animals that encounter fishing nets also, called ghost nets, can be dangerous for animals who swim or collide with them and can’t untangle themselves from the net. These fishing nets are the major causes of marine animal deaths.  Animals that feed on these microplastics will have the toxic chemical accumulated in their body and will be passed to the predator, eventually making their way up to humans.

In 2016, there was an expedition held by a Netherlands team to find solutions to resolve the accumulation of garbage on the ocean. To understand the physical properties of the plastic garbage,  samples of microplastics were collected and brought back to the Netherlands. To understand what effect this garbage has on ocean life, plastic samples from the expeditions were collected to test their chemical levels.

 

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