Speaking of parallel worlds, monsters that rise from the sea, and science fiction…Have you heard of the Eastern Garbage Patch, also known as the North Pacific Gyre? It’s an area in the Pacific Ocean where very large quantities of plastic garbage accumulate. Apparently, it is an area twice the size of Texas that is more or less “plastic soup.” The Algalita Marine Research Foundation has been studying it for over ten years and they started after Charles Moore happened upon the area, seeing plastic bottles floating by for hundreds of miles. (See a video of their field research here). The Algalita website has a nice slideshow of one of their trips to the area. The plastic soup is not exactly what you think it would be, it’s not a garbage island or an impenetrable mass of plastic. Instead it is approximately ten million square miles of blue water with small, confetti sized, and often clear plastic bits floating around. This part of the ocean contains roughly six times the amount of plastic than it does plankton (1). Fish eat the plastic mistaking it as food, and we may be eating those fish. Many birds have been found with ridiculous amounts of plastics inside them.

“While the bottle floats along, instead of biodegrading, it will “photodegrade,” Moore said – the sun’s UV rays will turn the bottle brittle, much like they would crack the vinyl on a car roof. They will break down the bottle into small pieces and, in some cases, into particles as fine as dust.” The plastic doesn’t disappear, instead it is swallowed by fish that are, in turn, swallowed by us. (2)

“Also, it’s undetectable by overhead satellite photos because it’s 80 percent plastic and therefore translucent, Moore added. The plastic moves just beneath the surface, from one inch to depths of 300 feet, according to samples he collected on the most recent trip, he said.” (2)

Resources:
(1) A five page article about the guy who discovered the Eastern Garbage and information about how harmful the plastics are to us. This about sums it up, “Aren’t disposable razors and foam packing peanuts a poor consolation prize for the destruction of the world’s oceans, not to mention our own bodies and the health of future generations?” by Susan Casey.

(2)Article in San Francisco Chronicle by Justin Berton

Algalita Marine Research Foundation

Other good reading on the subject:
-Trashing the Oceans – mindfully.org