Trash from humans is constantly spilling into the ocean — so much so that there are five gigantic garbage patches in the seas. They hang out at the nexus of the world’s ocean currents, changing shape with the waves. The largest is the North Pacific Garbage Patch, known colloquially as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
These areas were long thought to have been uninhabited, the plastics and fishing gear too harmful to marine life. But researchers have recently uncovered a whole ecosystem of life in this largest collection of trash. “This research has shown me that there is more life than we expected there … a whole ecosystem that are in the middle of the patch,” says marine biologist Fiona Chong.
Approved – Sully
FoundingFrog
Article URL : https://www.npr.org/2023/07/14/1187761733/great-pacific-garbage-patch-neuston-by-the-wind-sailor-velella-porpita