The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Plastic. You can't go a day without using it. The problem with plastic is that it doesn't go away, it's here practically forever. Our oceans are full of it too. Whether it's dumped off cargo ships or finds it's way from land to sea, plastic is abundant in the ocean.

http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2007/12/are-there-reall.html

What's really scary is so much plastic and trash have accumulated in the ocean that it has formed garbage patches. The most well known of these patches is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. These patches have been found mostly to be comprised of plastic. (1)

The Eastern Garbage Patch, located between California and Hawaii is created by an ocean gyre. A gyre is a system of ocean currents that move in a circular motion. The middle of the gyre is very calm, while the outside moves very fast towards the center, causing debris to get trapped. (1)

http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/encyclopedia/great-pacific-garbage-patch/?ar_a=1#page=1

The word "patch" may be incorrect for what the system really is. While there are visible hunks of plastic and other trash in the patches, much of it is made up of microplastic. Microplastics are tiny pieces of plastic that can range from .3 to 5 millimeters in diameter.(1)

http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/encyclopedia/great-pacific-garbage-patch/?ar_a=1#page=1

Marine life can be greatly affected by these particles by ingesting them, which can lead to negative health affects. Entanglement is also a hazard to many larger marine life such as seals and turtles because a lot of the debris looks like what there diet consists of (plastic bags as jellyfish,plastic pellets as fish eggs).(1)

http://www.expeditionmed.eu/fr/fr/2010/06/galerie-des-horreurs/ 

National Geographic states "Scientists have collected up to 750,000 bits of microplastic in a single square kilometer of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch - that's about 1.9 million bits per square mile."(1)

These garbage patches are no easy clean up. The microplastic nets cannot get much of the trash. What we can start doing to help is limiting our production of non-degradable plastics, and promote biodegradable products. 

In order to save many aquatic species and keep our oceans clean for the future, change needs to happen now. 

Types of plastics found in patches

http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/encyclopedia/great-pacific-garbage-patch/?ar_a=1#page=2

Sources:

(1) "Great Pacific Garbage Patch." - National Geographic Education. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Sept. 2014. <http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/encyclopedia/great-pacific-garbage-patch/?ar_a=1#page=1>.