Great Pacific garbage patch explained

The Great Pacific garbage patch (also Pacific trash vortex and North Pacific garbage patch[1]) is a garbage patch, a gyre of marine debris particles, in the central North Pacific Ocean. It is located roughly from 135°W to 155°W and 35°N to 42°N.[2] The collection of plastic and floating trash originates from the Pacific Rim, including countries in Asia, North America, and South America.[3]

Despite the common public perception of the patch existing as giant islands of floating garbage, its low density (4adj=preNaNadj=pre) prevents detection by satellite imagery, or even by casual boaters or divers in the area. This is because the patch is a widely dispersed area consisting primarily of suspended "fingernail-sized or smaller"—often microscopic—particles in the upper water column known as microplastics.[4]

Researchers from The Ocean Cleanup project claimed that the patch covers 1.6e6km2[5] consisting of NaNMT of plastic as of 2018. Its goal is to remove half of the plastic pollution by 2027 using floating barriers anchored to the seabed.[6] The same 2018 study found that, while microplastics dominate the area by count, 92% of the mass of the patch consists of larger objects which have not yet fragmented into microplastics. Some of the plastic in the patch is over 50 years old, and includes items (and fragments of items) such as "plastic lighters, toothbrushes, water bottles, pens, baby bottles, cell phones, plastic bags, and nurdles".

Research indicates that the patch is rapidly accumulating. The patch is believed to have increased "10-fold each decade" since 1945.[7] The gyre contains approximately six pounds of plastic for every pound of plankton.[8] A similar patch of floating plastic debris is found in the Atlantic Ocean, called the North Atlantic garbage patch.[9] [10] This growing patch contributes to other environmental damage to marine ecosystems and species.

History

The patch was described in a 1988 paper published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The description was based on research by several Alaska-based researchers in 1988 who measured neustonic plastic in the North Pacific Ocean.[11] [12] Researchers found relatively high concentrations of marine debris accumulating in regions governed by ocean currents. Extrapolating from findings in the Sea of Japan, the researchers hypothesized that similar conditions would occur in other parts of the Pacific where prevailing currents were favorable to the creation of relatively stable waters. They specifically indicated the North Pacific Gyre.[13]

Charles J. Moore, returning home through the North Pacific Gyre after competing in the Transpacific Yacht Race in 1997, claimed to have come upon an enormous stretch of floating debris. Moore alerted the oceanographer Curtis Ebbesmeyer, who subsequently dubbed the region the "Eastern Garbage Patch" (EGP).[14] The area is frequently featured in media reports as an exceptional example of marine pollution.[15]

The JUNK Raft Project was a 2008 trans-Pacific sailing voyage made to highlight the plastic in the patch, organized by the Algalita Marine Research Foundation.[16] [17] [18]

In 2009, two project vessels from Project Kaisei/Ocean Voyages Institute; the New Horizon and the Kaisei, embarked on a voyage to research the patch and determine the feasibility of commercial scale collection and recycling.[19] The Scripps Institute of Oceanography's 2009 SEAPLEX expedition in part funded by Ocean Voyages Institute/Project Kaisei[20] also researched the patch. Researchers were also looking at the impact of plastic on mesopelagic fish, such as lanternfish.[21] [22]

In 2010, Ocean Voyages Institute conducted a 30-day expedition in the gyre which continued the science from the 2009 expeditions and tested prototype cleanup devices.[23]

in July/August 2012 Ocean Voyages Institute conducted a voyage from San Francisco to the Eastern limits of the North Pacific Gyre north, (ultimately ending in Richmond British Columbia) and then made a return voyage which also visited the Gyre. The focus on this expedition was surveying the extent of tsunami debris from the Japanese earthquake-tsunami.[24] [25]

Sources of the plastic

In 2015, a study published in the journal Science sought to discover where exactly all of this garbage is coming from. According to the researchers, the discarded plastics and other debris floats eastward out of countries in Asia from six primary sources: China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Thailand.[26] [27] The study – which used data as of 2010 – indicated that China was responsible for approximately 30% of worldwide plastic ocean pollution at the time.[28] In 2017, the Ocean Conservancy reported that China, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam dump more plastic in the sea than all other countries combined.[29] Efforts to slow land generated debris and consequent marine debris accumulations have been undertaken by the Coastal Conservancy, Earth Day, and World Cleanup Day.[30] [31] [32] [33]

According to National Geographic, "80 percent of plastic in the ocean is estimated to come from land-based sources, with the remaining 20 percent coming from boats and other marine sources. These percentages vary by region, however. A 2018 study found that synthetic fishing nets made up nearly half the mass of the Great Pacific garbage patch, largely due to ocean current dynamics and increased fishing activity in the Pacific Ocean."[34]

An open access study published in 2022 concluded that 75% up to 86% of the plastic pollution is from fishing and agriculture with most identified emissions originating from Japan, China, South Korea, the US and Taiwan.[1]

The study analysed 6,093 debris items greater than 5 cm found in the North Pacific garbage patch, of which 99% of the rigid items by count and represented 90% of the total debris mass (514 kg) were plastics. These were later sorted, counted, weighed and their sources traced back to five industrialised fishing nations, suggesting the important role the fishing industry plays in the global plastic waste issue.[1]

Predominantly, the composition of the hard plastic waste includes unidentifiable fragments, fishing and aquaculture gear such as fish boxes, oyster spacers, and eel traps and other plastic items associated with food, drinks and household items. They also represent a substantial amount of accumulated floating plastic mass.[1]

The 201 plastic objects analysed carried language writings with the most common languages identified being Chinese, Japanese, English and Korean, in that order.[35]

Constitution

The Great Pacific garbage patch formed gradually as a result of ocean or marine pollution gathered by ocean currents.[36] It occupies a relatively stationary region of the North Pacific Ocean bounded by the North Pacific Gyre in the horse latitudes. The gyre's rotational pattern draws in waste material from across the North Pacific, incorporating coastal waters off North America and Japan. As the material is captured in the currents, wind-driven surface currents gradually move debris toward the center, trapping it.

In a 2014 study[37] researchers sampled 1571 locations throughout the world's oceans and determined that discarded fishing gear such as buoys, lines and nets accounted for more than 60%[37] of the mass of plastic marine debris. According to a 2011 EPA report, "The primary source of marine debris is the improper waste disposal or management of trash and manufacturing products, including plastics (e.g., littering, illegal dumping) ... Debris is generated on land at marinas, ports, rivers, harbors, docks, and storm drains. Debris is generated at sea from fishing vessels, stationary platforms, and cargo ships."[38] Constituents range in size from miles-long abandoned fishing nets to micro-pellets used in cosmetics and abrasive cleaners.[39]

A computer model predicts that a hypothetical piece of debris from the U.S. west coast would head for Asia, and return to the U.S. in six years; debris from the east coast of Asia would reach the U.S. in a year or less.[40] While microplastics make up 94% of the estimated 1.8 trillion plastic pieces, they amount to only 8% of the 79e3MT of plastic there, with most of the rest coming from the fishing industry.[41]

A 2017 study concluded that of the 9.1e9MT of plastic produced since 1950, close to 7e9MT are no longer in use.[42] The authors estimate that 9% was recycled, 12% was incinerated, and the remaining 5.5e9MT are in the oceans and land.

Animals

In a 2021 study, researchers who examined plastic from the patch identified more than 40 animal species on 90 percent of the debris they studied.[43] [44] Discovery of a thriving ecosystem of life at the Great Pacific garbage patch in 2022 suggested that cleaning up garbage here may adversely remove this plastisphere.[45]

A 2023 study found that the plastic is home to coastal species surviving in the open ocean and reproducing.[46] These coastal species, including jellyfish and sponges, are commonly found in the western Pacific coast and are surviving alongside open-ocean species on the plastic. Some scientists are concerned that this mix of coastal and open-ocean species may result in unnatural or "neopelagic communities," in which coastal creatures could be competing with or even consuming open-ocean species.

Size estimates

The size of the patch is indefinite, as is the precise distribution of debris because large items are uncommon.[47] Most debris consists of small plastic particles suspended at or just below the surface, evading detection by aircraft or satellite. Instead, the size of the patch is determined by sampling. The estimated size of the garbage patch is 1600000km2 (about twice the size of Texas or three times the size of France).[48] Such estimates, however, are conjectural given the complexities of sampling and the need to assess findings against other areas. Further, although the size of the patch is determined by a higher-than-normal degree of concentration of pelagic debris, there is no standard for determining the boundary between "normal" and "elevated" levels of pollutants to provide a firm estimate of the affected area.

In August 2009, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography/Project Kaisei SEAPLEX survey mission of the Gyre found that plastic debris was present in 100 consecutive samples taken at varying depths and net sizes along a path of 1700miles through the patch. The survey found that, although the patch contains large pieces, it is on the whole made up of smaller items that increase in concentration toward the gyre's centre, and these 'confetti-like' pieces that are visible just beneath the surface suggests the affected area may be much smaller.[49] [50] 2009 data collected from Pacific albatross populations suggest the presence of two distinct debris zones.[51]

In March 2018, The Ocean Cleanup published a paper summarizing their findings from the Mega- (2015) and Aerial Expedition (2016). In 2015, the organization crossed the Great Pacific garbage patch with 30 vessels, to make observations and take samples with 652 survey nets. They collected a total of 1.2 million pieces, which they counted and categorized into their respective size classes. In order to also account for the larger, but more rare debris, they also overflew the patch in 2016 with a C-130 Hercules aircraft, equipped with LiDAR sensors. The findings from the two expeditions, found that the patch covers 1.6e6km2 with a concentration of NaNkg/km2. They estimate an 80000MT in the patch, with 1.8 trillion plastic pieces, out of which 92% of the mass is to be found in objects larger than 0.5cm (00.2inches).[52] [53] [54]

NOAA stated:

Further contrary to popular belief, the Great Pacific Garbage patch cannot be seen from space.[55] [56] In a 2001 study, researchers[57] found concentrations of plastic particles at 334721adj=preNaNadj=pre with a mean mass of 5.1kg/km2, in the neuston. The overall concentration of plastics was seven times greater than the concentration of zooplankton in many of the sampled areas. Samples collected deeper in the water column found much lower concentrations of plastic particles (primarily monofilament fishing line pieces).[58] In 2012, researchers Goldstein, Rosenberg and Cheng found that microplastic concentrations in the gyre had increased by two orders of magnitude in the prior four decades.[59]

On 11 April 2013, artist Maria Cristina Finucci founded The Garbage Patch State at UNESCO – Paris[60] in front of Director General Irina Bokova.[61] In March 2018, New Scientist published the prediction that the size was approximately 1.6 million square kilometers.[62]

Environmental issues

See main article: Marine debris and Marine plastic pollution. In 2010, a conference at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) argued that whilst the patch posed a threat to the living conditions of mankind, it was controllable.[63] In a conference at the IEEE in the following year, it was argued that the patch disrupts the balance of the original marine ecosystem and provides microorganisms with new biological conditions, leading to the development of a new ecosystem.[64]

Debris removal efforts

See also: Marine plastic pollution.

Ocean Voyages Institute's Project Kaisei

In 2009, Ocean Voyages Institute removed over 5ST of plastic during the initial Project Kaisei cleanup initiative while testing a variety of cleanup prototype devices.[65] In 2019, over a 25-day expedition, Ocean Voyages Institute set the record for largest cleanup in the garbage patch, removing over 40MT of plastic from the ocean.[66] In 2020, over the course of 2 expeditions, Ocean Voyages Institute again set the record for the largest cleanup removing 170ST of plastic from the ocean. The first 45-day expedition removed 103ST of plastic [67] and the second expedition removed 67ST of plastic from the garbage patch.[68] In 2022, over the course of 2 summer expeditions, Ocean Voyages Institute removed 148ST of plastic ghostnets, consumer items and mixed plastic debris from the garbage patch.[69] [70] [71]

The Ocean Cleanup

On 9 September 2018, the first collection system was deployed to the gyre to begin the collection task.[72] This initial trial run of the Ocean Cleanup Project started towing its "Ocean Cleanup System 001" from San Francisco to a trial site some 240nmi away.[73] The initial trial of the "Ocean Cleanup System 001" ran for four months and provided the research team with valuable information relevant to the designing of the "System 001/B".[74]

In 2021, The Ocean Cleanup collected 63182lb of plastic using their "System 002". The mission started in July 2021 and concluded on October 14, 2021.[75] In July 2022, The Ocean Cleanup announced that they had reached a milestone of removing the first 100000kg (200,000lb) of plastic from the Great Pacific garbage patch using "System 002"[76] and announced its transition to "System 03", which is claimed to be 10 times as effective as its predecessor.[77] The group expects larger nets to enable it starting in 2024 to remove garbage faster than it is being deposited, and to clean up the entire patch within ten years.[78]

Other removal efforts

The 2012 Algalita/5 Gyres Asia Pacific Expedition began in the Marshall Islands on 1 May, investigated the patch, collecting samples for the 5 Gyres Institute, Algalita Marine Research Foundation, and several other institutions, including NOAA, Scripps, IPRC and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. In 2012, the Sea Education Association conducted research expeditions in the gyre. One hundred and eighteen net tows were conducted and nearly 70,000 pieces of plastic were counted.[79]

See also

References

Notes

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Lebreton . Laurent . Royer . Sarah-Jeanne . Peytavin . Axel . Strietman . Wouter Jan . Smeding-Zuurendonk . Ingeborg . Egger . Matthias . 2022-09-01 . Industrialised fishing nations largely contribute to floating plastic pollution in the North Pacific subtropical gyre . . en . 12 . 1 . 12666 . 10.1038/s41598-022-16529-0 . 36050351 . 9436981 . 2022NatSR..1212666L . 2045-2322.
  2. See the relevant sections below for specific references concerning the discovery and history of the patch. A general overview is provided in Dautel . Susan L. . Transoceanic Trash: International and United States Strategies for the Great Pacific Garbage Patch . 3 . 1 . Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal . 181 . 2007.
  3. News: World's largest collection of ocean garbage is twice the size of Texas. USA Today. 29 April 2018. 15 February 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200215074001/https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/science/2018/03/22/great-pacific-garbage-patch-grows/446405002/. live.
  4. Book: Philp, Richard B.. Ecosystems and Human Health: Toxicology and Environmental Hazards . 3rd. CRC Press. 2013. 978-1466567214. 116.
  5. News: Albeck-Ripka. Livia. 22 March 2018. The 'Great Pacific Garbage Patch' Is Ballooning, 87,000,000,000 Tons of Plastic and Counting. The New York Times. 26 February 2020. 0362-4331. 11 January 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200111155655/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/22/climate/great-pacific-garbage-patch.html. live.
  6. Evans-Pughe . Christine . February 2017 . Can we engineer our way towards cleaner oceans? . Engineering & Technology.
  7. Book: Maser, Chris. Interactions of Land, Ocean and Humans: A Global Perspective. CRC Press. 2014. 978-1482226393. 147–48.
  8. Web site: Great Pacific garbage patch: Plastic turning vast area of ocean into ecological nightmare. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20150912023857/http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Ocean/Pacific-Garbage-Patch27oct02.htm. 12 September 2015. 13 October 2008. Santa Barbara News-Press. dmy-all.
  9. Web site: Huge Garbage Patch Found in Atlantic Too. Lovett. Richard A.. 2 March 2010. National Geographic News. National Geographic Society. 4 March 2010. 5 March 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100305065648/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/03/100302-new-ocean-trash-garbage-patch/. dead.
  10. News: Plastic rubbish blights Atlantic Ocean. Victoria . Gill. 24 February 2010. 16 March 2010. BBC. 27 August 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170827125623/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8534052.stm. live.
  11. Web site: Perrone . Francesca . 2022-10-01 . Isola di Plastica più grande del mondo: dove si trova e come si è formata . 2024-03-03 . Bio Pianeta . it-IT.
  12. Web site: Day. Robert H.. Shaw. David G.. Ignell. Steven E.. 1988. 1988. The Quantitative Distribution and Characteristics of Neuston Plastic in the North Pacific Ocean, 1985–88. (Final Report to U.S. Department of Commerce, National Marine Fisheries Service, Auke Bay Laboratory. Auke Bay, Alaska). 247–66. 18 July 2008. 19 August 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190819024029/http://swfsc.noaa.gov/publications/TM/SWFSC/NOAA-TM-NMFS-SWFSC-154_P247.PDF. live.
  13. "After entering the ocean, however, neuston plastic is redistributed by currents and winds. For example, plastic entering the ocean in Korea is moved eastward by the Subarctic Current (in Subarctic Water) and the Kuroshio (in Transitional Water, Kawai 1972; Favorite et al. 1976; Nagata et al. 1986). In this way, the plastic is transported from high-density areas to low-density areas. In addition to this eastward movement, Ekman stress from winds tends to move surface waters from the subarctic and the subtropics toward the Transitional Water mass as a whole (see Roden 1970: fig. 5). Because of the convergent nature of this Ekman flow, densities tend to be high in Transitional Water. Also, the generally convergent nature of water in the North Pacific Central Gyre (Masuzawa 1972) should result in high densities there also." (Day, et al. 1988, p. 261) (Emphasis added)
  14. Web site: Moore. Charles. Charles J. Moore. November 2003. Natural History Magazine. live. 2021-09-17. www.naturalhistorymag.com. 17 September 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210917204742/https://www.naturalhistorymag.com/htmlsite/master.html?https%3A%2F%2Fwww.naturalhistorymag.com%2Fhtmlsite%2F1103%2F1103_feature.html.
  15. News: Berton. Justin. 19 October 2007. 19 October 2007. Continent-size toxic stew of plastic trash fouling swath of Pacific Ocean. San Francisco Chronicle. W-8. 22 October 2007. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20071021010723/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2007%2F10%2F19%2FSS6JS8RH0.DTL. 21 October 2007.
  16. News: A raft made of junk crosses Pacific in 3 months. Yap. Britt. 28 August 2008. USA Today. 30 September 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20100331162928/http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-08-28-1679732347_x.htm. 31 March 2010. dead.
  17. Web site: Raft made of junk bottles crosses Pacific. 28 August 2008. NBC News. 30 September 2009. 14 July 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140714225609/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/26436974/. live.
  18. News: Mid-ocean dinner date saves rower. Jeavans. Christine. 20 August 2008. 30 September 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20100325004644/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7571663.stm. 25 March 2010. dead. BBC News.
  19. Expedition Sets Sail to the Great Plastic Vortex. https://web.archive.org/web/20090804060444/http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1914145,00.html. dead. 4 August 2009. Walsh. Bryan. 1 August 2009. Time. 2 August 2009.
  20. Goldstein Miriam C.. Rosenberg Marci. Cheng Lanna. 2012. Increased oceanic microplastic debris enhances oviposition in an endemic pelagic insect. Biology Letters. 8. 5. 817–20. 10.1098/rsbl.2012.0298. 3440973. 22573831.
  21. Web site: SEAPLEX Day 11 Part 1: Midwater Fish. SEAPLEX. Alison Cawood. 12 August 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20091008200929/http://seaplexscience.com/2009/08/12/midwater_fish/. 8 October 2009. unfit. 2 June 2016.
  22. Scientists Find 'Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch'. 27 August 2009. National Science Foundation. 8 August 2013. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20120423171700/http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=115481. 23 April 2012. Alt URL
  23. Web site: This Is What It's Like to Sail in the Pacific Trash Vortex. Schwartz. Ariel. 19 November 2010. Fast Company. 6 September 2019. 6 September 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190906003941/https://www.fastcompany.com/1703881/what-its-sail-pacific-trash-vortex. live.
  24. Web site: Pacific Ocean garbage mostly from home, not Japan tsunami. Canadian Broadcast News. 6 September 2019. 8 March 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210308062446/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/pacific-ocean-garbage-mostly-from-home-not-japan-tsunami-1.1278512. live.
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  26. Web site: Where did the trash in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch come from? How do we stop it?. USA Today. 16 January 2019. 2 September 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190902011114/https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/science/2018/09/07/great-pacific-garbage-patch-where-did-all-trash-come/1133838002/. live.
  27. Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean . Kara Lavender . Law . Ramani . Narayan . Anthony . Andrady . Miriam . Perryman . Theodore R. . Siegler . Chris . Wilcox . Roland . Geyer . Roland Geyer . Jenna R. . Jambeck . Jenna Jambeck . 13 February 2015 . Science . 347 . 6223 . 768–71. 10.1126/science.1260352 . 25678662 . 2015Sci...347..768J . 206562155.
  28. News: Will Dunham . World's Oceans Clogged by Millions of Tons of Plastic Trash . 31 July 2019 . Scientific American . 12 February 2019 . China was responsible for the most ocean plastic pollution per year with an estimated 2.4 million tons, about 30 percent of the global total, followed by Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Egypt, Malaysia, Nigeria and Bangladesh. . 16 November 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191116021052/https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/world-s-oceans-clogged-by-millions-of-tons-of-plastic-trash/ . live .
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  31. Web site: Our progress so far.... TIDES. Ocean Conservancy. 1 August 2019. 1 August 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190801035710/https://www.coastalcleanupdata.org/. live.
  32. Earth Day Network Launches Great Global Clean Up. 4 April 2019. snews. 1 August 2019. 23 December 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191223154822/https://www.snewsnet.com/press-release/earth-day-network-launches-great-global-clean-up-2019. live.
  33. Web site: Olivia Rosane. 12 September 2018. Cleanup Day Is Saturday Around the World: Here's How to Help. EcoWatch. 1 August 2019. 28 August 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190828221810/https://www.ecowatch.com/cleanup-day-world-national-coastal-2604288003.html. live.
  34. Web site: 2019-07-05. Great Pacific Garbage Patch. 2020-06-10. National Geographic Society. en. 5 June 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200605125705/https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/great-pacific-garbage-patch/. live.
  35. Lebreton . Laurent . Royer . Sarah-Jeanne . Peytavin . Axel . Strietman . Wouter Jan . Smeding-Zuurendonk . Ingeborg . Egger . Matthias . 2022-09-01 . Industrialised fishing nations largely contribute to floating plastic pollution in the North Pacific subtropical gyre . Scientific Reports . en . 12 . 1 . 12666 . 10.1038/s41598-022-16529-0 . 36050351 . 9436981 . 2022NatSR..1212666L . 2045-2322.
  36. For this and what follows, see David M.. Karl . A Sea of Change: Biogeochemical Variability in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre . Ecosystems . 2 . 3 . May–June 1999 . 181–214. 10.1007/s100219900068 . 46309501 . For gyres generally, see Book: Sverdrup HU, Johnson MW, Fleming RH . 1946 . The oceans, their physics, chemistry, and general biology . New York . Prentice-Hall.
  37. Eriksen. Marcus. Lebreton. Laurent C. M.. Carson. Henry S.. Thiel. Martin. Moore. Charles J.. Borerro. Jose C.. Galgani. Francois. Ryan. Peter G.. Reisser. Julia. 10 December 2014. Plastic Pollution in the World's Oceans: More than 5 Trillion Plastic Pieces Weighing over 250,000 Tons Afloat at Sea. PLOS ONE. 9. 12. e111913. 10.1371/journal.pone.0111913. 1932-6203. 4262196. 25494041. 2014PLoSO...9k1913E. free.
  38. Web site: Marine Debris in the North Pacific: A Summary of Existing Information and Identification of Data Gaps . November 2011 . US Environmental Protection Agency. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160114055751/http://www3.epa.gov/region9/marine-debris/pdf/MarineDebris-NPacFinalAprvd.pdf. 14 January 2016.
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  43. Web site: Magazine . Smithsonian . Wetzel . Corryn . The Great Pacific Garbage Patch Hosts Life in the Open Ocean . 2023-04-20 . Smithsonian Magazine . en.
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