The Garbage Patch is a damning example of our excessive waste. However, new research shows that it might actually be integral to a burgeoning ecosystem that lives in literal trash.
. This massive collection of plastic waste and inorganic debris spans more than 617,000 square miles—or twice the size of Texas. While we humans shoulder the brunt of the blame when it comes to its creation, part of the reason it’s there is because of the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre , one of the world's five main oceanic vortexes where several ocean currents converge.
However, the authors were quick to note that this isn’t because the Garbage Patch is necessarily conducive to life—but rather, life is persisting in the trash anyway. Blue button jellies, known by their scientific name Porpita, float on the ocean’s surface using a round disc, and drift where the current takes them.“The ‘garbage patch’ is more than just a garbage patch,” Georgetown University marine biologist Rebecca Helm, who is the lead author of the paper, said in a statement.
Using the samples gathered by Lecomte and his sailing crew, they discovered that the concentration of plastic waste was positively correlated with higher concentrations of three floating sea creatures: sea rafts, blue sea buttons, and violet sea snails. These creatures are also known as neustons, which describe lifeforms that live at the very surface of water.
While it might seem great that life is able to survive despite the seemingly unideal environment, it actually poses a great danger to creatures that eat neustons such as sea turtles and albatrosses. These creatures frequently ingest sea plastics in the search for food. With one vital food source literally mired in the world’s largest patch of plastics, it only increases the chances that they’ll end up eating the trash too.
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