Coastal species are thriving in the middle of the ocean in a patch of garbage and plastic, researchers said in a new study.
While studying the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, scientists found coastal species occurred on more than 70% of debris, according to a study published Monday in the Nature Ecology & Evolution journal. There was even evidence they'd reproduced in their plastic homes.
"Our results demonstrate that the oceanic environment and floating plastic habitat are clearly hospitable to coastal species. Coastal species with an array of life history traits can survive, reproduce, and have complex population and community structures in the open ocean," the study's authors wrote.
Around two-thirds of the debris studied was home to both coastal and open-ocean species living together.that without urgent policy intervention the rate at which plastic waste will enter the ocean between now and 2040 will increase by around 2.6 times.
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