Great pacific ocean garbage patch facts

Quotable Captain "So on the way back to our home port in Long Beach, California, we decided to take a shortcut through the gyre, which few seafarers ever cross. Fishermen shun it because its waters lack the nutrients to support an abundant catch. Sailors dodge it because it lacks the wind to propel their sailboats. In the week it took to cross the subtropical high, no matter what time of day I looked, plastic debris was floating everywhere: bottles, bottle caps, wrappers, fragments.

Months later, after I discussed what I had seen with the oceanographer Curtis Ebbesmeyer, perhaps the world's leading expert on flotsam, he began referring to the area as the 'eastern garbage patch.

Strange Cargo When ships are caught in storms, they often lose cargo to the oceans. The following are just a few of the strange items that have washed up on shores:. Also called an alpha predator or top predator.

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If no button appears, you cannot download or save the media. Text on this page is printable and can be used according to our Terms of Service. Any interactives on this page can only be played while you are visiting our website. You cannot download interactives. Marine ecosystems contain a diverse array of living organisms and abiotic processes. From massive marine mammals like whales to the tiny krill that form the bottom of the food chain, all life in the ocean is interconnected.

While the ocean seems vast and unending, it is, in fact, finite; as the climate continues to change, we are learning more about those limits. Explore these resources to teach students about marine organisms, their relationship with one another, and with their environment. Whether a description of a keystone species or the impact of the Pacific garbage patch, these articles provide insight into a breadth of important issues facing our world today, including the environment, civic engagement, and history.

Plastic is ubiquitous in our everyday lives. Some plastics we can reuse or recycle—and many play important roles in areas like medicine and public safety—but other items, such as straws, are designed for only one use. In fact, more than 40 percent of plastic is used only once before it is thrown away, where it lingers in the environment for a long, long time.

It often breaks down into smaller and smaller particles, called microplastics, which can be ingested by both animals and people. Fortunately, there are things we can do to help—like stop using plastic bags, straws, and bottles, recycling when we can, and disposing of waste properly. It is possible to sail through "garbage patch" areas in the Pacific and see very little or no debris on the water's surface. It is also difficult to estimate the size of these "patches," because the borders and content constantly change with ocean currents and winds.

Regardless of the exact size, mass, and location of the "garbage patch," manmade debris does not belong in our oceans and waterways and must be addressed. Look carefully! The first image shows a turtle munching on a piece of plastic and the second image shows the corpse of a bird black-footed albatross with plastic content in its belly. What are the common facts you notice here? Now, why are we stressing on plastic and sea?

You must have heard of it. Some say that there is an enormous area some actually call it a floating island in Pacific Ocean that has floating piles of plastic garbage and that the covered area is as big as the state of New York!

All you see is water and water in every direction. Actually, there is a garbage patch. It is just that the plastics are not seen floating on top of water surface of the Pacific Ocean. These plastics are in fact microplastics or rather small pieces of plastic that are suspended in the water. Now that we have your attention, let us take you through the list of 40 interesting Great Pacific Garbage Patch facts. For those of you who already know this, consider this list a refresher course.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch has an alternative name. People also call it, Pacific Trash Vortex. Interesting, it is not the only garbage patch that haunts our oceans. There are other such patches which can be found in both Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean.

Such garbage patches are actually developing in comparatively smaller water bodies such as the North Sea. Such smaller water bodies are actually shipping routes.

As a matter of fact, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is actually a combination to two separate trash vortexes. The first one is near Japan and is known as the Western Garbage Patch. This convergence zone is actually a place where Arctic cold water meets warm South Pacific water.

This convergence creates a water highway which is used by the Western Patch and Eastern Patch garbage or debris to travel from one patch to the other. Gyre in an ocean actually refers to a current system that moves in a circular pattern. To be specific, the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre is actually formed by 4 currents which are:.

The aforementioned 4 currents actually form a circular system of currents because the all four currents move in a clockwise direction. The total area covered by this current system is 7. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch lies within that massive area.

Interestingly, the central area is very calm and is the place where the oceanic debris is stuck. In the grand scheme of things, plastic has only been around for a very short amount of time. It was only in the s that plastic began to be mass produced. Every piece of plastic that has ever been produced is still in existence today. This plastic crate was found in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

It was found to have been manufactured in It may be a little frayed and a little washed out, but it is still very much recognisable as a crate. It still looks strong.

Pieces from this crate have obviously broken off. These pieces will then break into smaller pieces, which will break into smaller pieces. And on and on this process will go, century after century. The Ocean Cleanup is an initiative founded and lead by Boyan Slat. Slat became interested in the issue of plastic pollution as a year-old boy scuba diving while on vacation in Greece.

He was shocked by the amount of plastic he found while diving and set about working on a potential solution. The Ocean Cleanup system consists of a meter long floating boom, which collects plastic debris into a containment area. Learn more about the Ocean Cleanup on their official website.

Home Articles Infographics About us. Eradicate Plastic. For answers to these questions and more, keep reading… 1. It was discovered by oceanographer and boat captain Charles Moore In , Oceanographer and boat captain Charles Moore was sailing his boat home to California after completing the Los Angeles to Hawaii Transpac sailing race.