6 Garbage Patches in our oceans. This one is the most obvious. It’s astounding how much of our trash finds its way into the ocean. Animals become easily entangled and trapped in our garbage, and it can destroy delicate sea life like coral and sponges. In addition, sea turtles and dolphins often mistake plastic bags for their favorite foods, jellyfish and squids, choking them or clogging their digestive system. If that’s not bad enough, hopefully the bigger-than-Texas trash vortex in the Pacific Ocean and its smaller cousin in the Atlantic will help serve as a wakeup call. One more depressing one before we move on to something fun and exciting. We certainly can’t ignore a giant patch of plastic soup the size of Texas sitting smack dab in the middle of the Pacific ocean.
Taking a look at the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a sobering way to realize there is no “away” when it comes to trash, especially trash that lacks the ability to decompose. The patch was discovered by Captain Charles Moore , who has been actively vocal about it ever since.
Luckily, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch getting a lot of attention from eco-organizations, including Project Kaisei, which is launching the first clean-up effort and experimentation, and David de Rothschild who will sail a boat made of plastic out to the patch to bring awareness to it.
