Students spearhead study on Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch

The Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch, a floating mass of plastic trash about twice the size of Texas, is a striking reminder of human effect on the ocean. Located about 1,000 miles off the California coast, the patch is kept in constant swirling motion by ocean currents. When laundry baskets, bottles and other assorted items wash up on shore, they clutter beaches and pose a toxic threat to species such as albatross that mistake bottle caps and nozzles for food. 

In a seagoing expedition that began Sunday, students and researchers from UC San Diego's Scripps Institute of Oceanography will attempt to hone in on the scope and effect of the patch, which was the focus of an article in the Los Angeles Times' Pulitzer Prize-winning series on oceans.

During their 20 days at sea, the researchers will attempt to discover what kind of plastic is in the patch, how deep in the water it goes and how big the patch actually is. They also will examine the plastic to determine whether trash may provide a vessel for pollutants and invasive species traveling to places they do not belong.

"I'm pretty pleased that the students have had the initiative to band together and see if they can get this expedition together," said Robert Knox, deputy director for research at Scripps. 

Funding for the project came from the University and the Project Kaisei, as well as the National Science Foundation.

-- Amy Littlefield

Photo: Plastic debris washes up on Midway Atoll, a rookery for albatross and other birds. Credit: Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times; from the Los Angeles Times Altered Oceans series

Comments

[John Davies]

The UN or others should ban the dumping of garbage in the Ocean (see Japan). Even Hawaii ships it's garbagre to Oregon for a proper land burial.

[Danette Ivanovich Kirby]

What are we waiting for...let's get a caravan of boats, as many as we need for as long as it takes to clean this up. I hope the reason why it’s been spinning around out there as long as it has is not because nobody wants to take responsibility for it.....It's all of our responsibility! We can jail people later. I offer myself (48) and my adult children (18 & 27) will volunteer with the clean up. Please, for all that’s precious on the planet, let’s get this done.

[John Birch]

Funny how we can spend billions of dollars looking for new planets and earths but we cannot look after the one we have. We are still talking about reducing carbon emissions and doing nothing about it. Government say they will reduce Co2 by such and such a date. Why wait?? It's already too late and still we wait!!!!!!!
We pollute the oceans, air, rivers and countryside. Problem is we are stuck in this society we have created and cannot get out. Fixing our planet should be our top priority but everywhere it's business as usual. I have 2 small kids (7 & 9 yrs) and I fear so for their future (if there is one).
What have we done???

[Jo Bull]

Nobody wants to take responsibility and clear it up from the ocean because then they would have to dispose of it on land, and who has the room for that?!

[Larry Malmberg]

Tis a shame indeed.

[nathan kilgore]

Since its in international waters it may seem like its not 100% our problem but it is perhaps a north American problem.
It also seems that the sheer bulk could be claimed as salvage and begin to pay for itself once the shredding process is started.

[Andrew Christie]

"Comments are moderated"-by moderated you mean censored say what you mean, and mean what you say; how much plastic do you have in your life?
Even our food is plastic (engineered not organic).We have so much food- look in the debris bins of behind any Safeway store. Why are people starving in the world? Foot dragging moderation for profit and gain.

[Camelia Checeanu]

After 22 days of intensive research, testing and collection in the North Pacific Ocean, Project Kaisei's ship - the Kaisei has completed the discovery portion of its expedition, confirming fears that the presence of plastic debris in the Pacific Ocean is pervasive.

Project Kaisei set off to the August expedition with a three-pronged mission: to develop a sound scientific sampling of the Marine Debris in the North Pacific Gyre, to test and assess various Marine Debris prototype harvesting/reclamation technologies, and to gathering insight on solutions to a possible cleanup in future expeditions. Project Kaisei aims to use scientific data and results for education and public awareness aimed at bringing about real social change to halt the flow of Marine Debris into the world’s oceans.

Initial Findings:

The scientific team on board Kaisei conducted research in a grid of 17 sampling sites, studying and detailing debris and invasive species and conducting more than 50 surface debris sampling trawls, each one to two hours in length; 15-minute trawls were conducted four times per night during the second phase of the expedition.

While debris was recorded at every stage of the expedition, since day one, a steady increase of debris was recorded in trawl samples as the ship moved deeper into the North Pacific Gyre. Every sample taken within the Gyre (some of which contained no marine life) contained plastics, from ultra-fine to very large. Of particular concern was a collection of sea jellies that were ingesting confetti-sized particles of plastic in a pail of seawater literally bubbling with activity.

"More than 30 years ago, on my first trip to the North Pacific Gyre, I found a few glass ball fishing floats, one net and there were, in four days, perhaps two pieces of floating plastic,” said Mary T. Crowley, Project Kaisei co-founder & Ocean Voyages Institute executive director. “Returning now with Project Kaisei and researching the marine debris situation shows a startling change in this same area. In 30 minutes one easily can count up to 400 pieces of plastic on the sea's surface."

The Kasei scientific crew also recorded finding a variety of invertebrates living on the debris, including swimming crabs, sea anemones, barnacles, sponges, algae, which may be problematic both for invasive species proliferation and the effect from possible toxins on the debris. Sea life was also noticed in ghost nets (derelict fishing gear) that had perished due to entanglement.

For more info, contact Camelia Checeanu at 415 318 4101.

[Ramon S.]

We should ban all unnecessary plastics within our community and start to clean up our mess. But of course the government is more concern about you getting subsidies on mediocre fuel efficient cars and tax rebates on homes. Yes, like we all need more debt and distraction from the real problem.....ouselves and the waste that we all generate.