New Research Plans to Shed Light on Pacific Garbage Patch

A crew of scientists from the University of California's Scripps Institution is currently studying the Pacific Garbage Patch, an ecological disaster that has primarily been studied by environmentalists. Initial comments from the research crew state that the patch isn't what is portrayed by environmentalists. "There may be a misapprehension ... that if you got out there and stood on the middle of a deck you'd see nothing but plastic litter from horizon to horizon," said deputy director Robert Knox. "It's relatively sparse, and you might or might not see something visible to the human eye at any particular location out there. I think it's a little misleading to think of it as a great big island you could practically get out and walk on, but the point is it's a big area of ocean, so even a few pieces of plastic per square meter amounts to a lot of plastic when you add it up over this enormous area."

The Pacific Garbage Patch is created in the center of a gyre, or a giant swirling ocean current. Like the drain on a bathtub, all the water drifts toward the center and eventually sits there in the relatively still water. This area of ocean is so far from the coastline and so deep that vessels rarely traverse this area. Because of this isolation, very few sea creatures live in the gyre either, the major exception being microscopic plankton. This area, which is thought to be the size of Texas is filled with Chiclet sized pieces of plastic, that has been physically and chemically worn down by seawater.

The Pacific Garbage Patch is thought to be primarily caused by trash from ocean vessels, which customarily dump their refuse overboard. The University of California Study will focus on the garbage patch's effect on sea life, and the potential for this plastic to enter the human food chain.