A recent Spanish study found plastic throughout the world’s oceans, though less of it was visible and detectable than previously expected. This is no reason to celebrate. On the contrary, it is highly disturbing, as it suggests that the plastic in the oceans is leaving the oceans through various potential pathways.
There is certainly no reason to suspect the amount of plastic being deposited in the oceans is decreasing. The recent research voyage by The 5Gyres Institute in the North Atlantic Ocean found plenty of plastic in every trawl they did, but less of the smallest plastic particles than expected, compared to larger particles.
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| Photo credit: 5Gyres.org |
While unable to explain with certainty where the plastic has gone — i.e., why the oceans are “kicking plastic out” as 5Gyres Research Director Marcus Eriksen puts it — possible explanations the researchers offer include: fragmentation into microscopic particles, ingestion by aquatic wildlife who then sink and die, attaching to other objects and sinking, and washing ashore.
On our quarterly member conference call with the Plastic Pollution Coalition this week, a representative from the Algalita Marine Research Institute indicated that their current Pacific Ocean research voyage is finding more and more plastic islands. The voyage leader, Captain Charles Moore, is credited with key initial discoveries of ocean plastic pollution, including the commonly termed “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” and this is his take:
“I can’t find words adequate to express the huge increase in the amount of plastic we are getting in our manta trawls and that pass by the boat since I last sampled here in 2009.”
*What is abundantly clear from all this cutting edge research is that plastic is everywhere in the oceans in varying sizes and concentrations. What needs to be better understood is what happens to plastic once it enters the oceans.*
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| Photo credit: Algalita.org |