Rubbish dump found floating in Pacific Ocean is twice the size of America

Honey · February 5th, 2008, 08:14 PM

A rubbish dump twice the size of the United States has been discovered floating in the Pacific Ocean.

The vast expanse of debris, made up of plastic junk including footballs, kayaks, Lego blocks and carrier bags, is kept together by swirling underwater currents.
It stretches from 500 nautical miles off the Californian coast, across the northern Pacific, past Hawaii and almost as far as Japan. Scroll down for more ...

'Plastic soup': The vast expanse of rubbish is kept together by swirling currents. It stretches from 500 nautical miles off the Californian coast, across the Pacific, past Hawaii and almost as far as Japan

Because the rubbish, which has been called a “plastic soup” and a “trash vortex”, is translucent and lies just below the water's surface it cannot be seen in satellite photographs.
American oceanographer Charles Moore discovered the Great Pacific Garbage Patch by chance in 1997 while taking a short cut home from a yacht race.
He said: “Every time I came on deck there was trash floating by. How could we have fouled such a huge area? How could this go on for a week?”

Around a fifth of sea junk is thrown off ships or oil platforms - the rest comes from land

He warned that the rubbish could double in size over the next decade if consumers do not cut back on their use of plastics. More than a million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals die every year as a result of plastic rubbish.
Syringes, cigarette lighters and toothbrushes have all been found inside the stomachs of dead seabirds.
The rubbish can also be dangerous for humans, because tiny plastic pellets in the sea can attract man-made chemicals which then enter the food chain.
Research director Dr Marcus Eriksen said: “What goes into the ocean goes into these animals and onto your dinner plate. It's that simple.”
Oceanographer Curtis Ebbesmeyer compared the rubbish to a living entity. He said: “It moves around like a big animal without a leash.” Describing what happens when it reaches land, he said: “The garbage patch barfs, and you get a beach covered with this confetti of plastic.” The rubbish dump is made up of two linked areas either side of Hawaii. Around one-fifth of the junk is thrown off ships or oil platforms, while the rest comes from the land.

Rubbish dump found floating in Pacific Ocean is twice the size of America | the Daily Mail

Grimmlok · February 5th, 2008, 08:47 PM

*Sigh*

lovely.

Can't they start cleaning it up using those massive mile wide trawling nets at the back of fishing boats?

**Mr. Authority** · February 5th, 2008, 09:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grimmlok

*Sigh*

lovely.

Can't they start cleaning it up using those massive mile wide trawling nets at the back of fishing boats?

I've heard rumors that talks were going on with the Pacific countries to gather and clean up these plastic water-nests. Possibly using fishing boat nets.

Though still it's sad that all this trash is in the ocean. I doubt plastic will go away since it's a billion dollar industry (money triumphs the environment I guess).