North Pacific Gyre

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is located halfway between the United States west coast and Japan.  This floating bunch of plastic is twice the size of Texas and is still expanding. Some may be confused on how a garbage patch this big is formed. The patch is formed by certain currents in the ocean called gyres. A gyre is a current system that pulls water from one place in the ocean and moves it somewhere else. A lot of trash has entered the patch including rope and nets, but the biggest contributor to the patch is plastic. All kinds of plastic get caught in the garbage patch, from plastic bags to plastic beverage rings. Some of these plastics stay whole, but others break down forming micro plastics. Micro plastics are naked to the human eye, but have a major negative impact on Marine Life.  This harms marine life for the following reasons:

• Animals mistake plastic for food and digest it, ultimately leading the animal to its death. Below are two photographs of consequences of plastic debris in the ocean. The first is a picture of  plastic bags that resemble jellyfish. Turtles eat jellyfish and mistake the plastic bags for their food, which leads to the turtle's death. The second photo is of a gull that died from a stomach full of miscellaneous plastics. Also, on another note fish digest this trash that can potentially be toxic and then this fish can eventually be on the table in front of us as dinner. Does anyone really want poisoned fish for dinner?  

• Animals get physically caught in the trash, leading to the inability to move freely and in more severe conditions death. Trapped animals cannot search for food or escape predators. Below is a seal that has been caught in rope and is unable to move. There is also a photograph of a dead gull that died due to the plastic soda rings caught around its neck. 

• Micro plastics float on the top of the water which prevents sunlight from reaching certain organisms such as plankton and algae. With autotrophs not getting there necessary nutrients, animals who eat the algae and plankton will suffer causing the whole food web to suffer as well. Here is a sample water taken from the North Pacific Gyre. By looking at the picture, you can tell how little some of the plastics can be. In a body of water as large as the ocean, it can be very hard to find and confiscate the plastic. 

• It is hard to find a solution to the Garbage Patch due to so many organisms that reside in the water. People are resistant to using nets, because organisms as small as zooplankton or 1/3 of a millimeter can get caught in the nets. A big idea is not to harm more marine life and their habitat while trying to clean the ocean.