3 EQ3 - Great Pacific Garbage Patch

How big is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?

It is estimated to be 1.6 million km2

Why has a garbage patch formed here?

Because of ‘gyres’ in the ocean - a system of circular currents formed by wind patterns and the rotation of the planet. The area at the centre of a gyre is usually calm, so once debris has been carried there it usually stays there.

When was the Great Pacific Garbage Patch discovered?

In 1997

What materials make up the pollution?

Material such as bottles, fishing nets, yoghurt pots etc, as well as microplastics. However majority is discarded fishing gear.

How many pieces of plastic debris make up the patch?

1\.8 trillion

What are the 5 main impacts of the patch?

• Ingesting the plastics can be very harmful for fish and seabirds

  • The plastics can attract pollutants that are harmful to marine life when eaten

  • For example, plastic can interfere with digestion, physically and chemically

  • Microplastics can stunt the growth of fish and cause abnormal behaviour

  • Albatrosses mistake small coloured plastic pieces for fish eggs and feed them to their chicks, who die of starvation

• Ghost fishing can also occur, when marine mammals become trapped in discarded fishing nets and are unable to free themselves to return to the surface to breathe, and this can kill them

• The layer of plastic pollution prevents sunlight from reaching the phytoplankton below so photosynthesis is reduced

• The microplastics can then be transferred to humans and this can again be harmful if the plastic has absorbed chemicals

• Plastic is very long lasting - a plastic bottle can last for 450 years, which means that the garbage patch will only grow in size

  • Over time plastic breaks down into increasingly small microplastics, making them easier to ingest accidentally