The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Key Concepts: Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP), Pacific Trash Vortex, North Pacific subtropical gyre, microplastics, macroplastics, mega plastics, ghost nets, persistent bioaccumulative toxins, ocean cleanup, waste shark, clear bot Nia, UN resolution 5/14.

Discovery and Overview

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP), also known as the Pacific Trash Vortex, is a massive accumulation of plastic waste in the North Pacific Ocean. It was stumbled upon in August 1997 by Charles Moore, who was sailing from Los Angeles to Hawaii. He encountered an unexpectedly large amount of rubbish in the North Pacific subtropical gyre, a convergence point for major North Pacific currents and a remote location. Moore reported that he couldn't find a moment where the surrounding water was clear of rubbish during his week-long journey through the area. The GPGP isn't a solid mass but rather a "plastic soup" of broken-down plastic debris, making it difficult to detect via satellite.

The GPGP consists of two distinct vortexes: the North Pacific subtropical high (nearer North America) and the Western garbage patch (near Asia), connected by the subtropical Convergence Zone. The total size is approximately 620,000 square miles, roughly the size of Mongolia. The total weight of the debris is estimated to be around 100,000 tons, equivalent to about 500 jumbo jets.

Surveying the Trash

Determining the exact composition of the GPGP is challenging due to its vast size. A 2018 study revealed that 46% of the garbage is net fishing equipment, a significant increase from the previously accepted 20%. Greenpeace reports that over 640,000 tons of industrial fishing equipment are abandoned in the ocean annually.

Microplastics (less than 1.9 inches long) comprise 94% of the estimated 1.9 trillion individual pieces of garbage in the GPGP, although they only account for 8% of the mass. Macroplastics (more than 1.9 inches long) and mega plastics (larger than 2 feet) also pose a significant threat.

Ghost nets, lost commercial fishing nets, are particularly deadly, killing an estimated 650,000 marine animals per year. These nets, often made of plastic, can continue to harm wildlife for up to 600 years. Gill nets, some stretching over a mile long, have been banned by the EU and the UN due to their indiscriminate damage.

Approximately 20% of the GPGP's trash originated from the 2011 Tohoku tsunami. Other major garbage patches exist in the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean, though they are less publicized. The North Atlantic Garbage Patch spans 990 miles, while the South Pacific Garbage Patch covers 350,000 square miles. The Indian Ocean patch is projected to span 617,000 square miles. The Atlantic and Indian Ocean patches are less dense than the Pacific one.

Environmental Impact

The plastic waste in the garbage patches is deadly to marine life. An estimated one million seabirds and 100,000 mammals die each year due to the effects of ingesting plastic. A study of sea turtles found that 74% of their diet was indigestible plastic. Plankton populations are also devastated by plastic pollution, with the ratio of plastic to plankton in the GPGP increasing from 6:1 in 1998 to 46:1 in 2008. Plankton is the foundation of ocean life and provides about half of the Earth's atmospheric oxygen.

Coral reefs are also threatened by plastic, with infection rates of common diseases increasing from 4% to 89% in areas with significant plastic pollution.

Many plastics contain persistent bioaccumulative toxins, such as decabromodiphenyl ether (a carcinogenic neurotoxin), which accumulate in marine life and pose a risk to seafood consumers. A 2018 report indicated that 90% of seafood consumed in America is imported from areas with significant plastic leakage problems. Every year, an estimated 2.4 million tons of these substances are dumped into the oceans. It is forecasted that by 2050, the amount of plastic in the oceans will outweigh all of the fish in them. Since its discovery, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch has more than quadrupled in size.

Cleanup Efforts

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) estimated that if 67 ships were devoted to cleaning the GPGP for an entire year, they would collect only 1% of the total trash.

The Ocean Cleanup project launched a large-scale effort in 2015, dubbed the Mega Expedition, using 30 vessels and 652 nets. After three months, they collected 1.2 million pieces of plastic, representing only 0.67% of the total. A 2016 expedition using a C130 Hercules aircraft found that fishing nets comprised 75% of the GPGP's mass.

The Ocean Cleanup project has faced criticism for its methods, which can endanger marine animals in the same way as commercial fishing. In a 2023 Washington Post article, it was pointed out that their methods of trash trolling endangered the very animals that it intended to save in essentially the same way commercial fishing did. The amount of trash they collected came to a modest 3,300 tons.

Ben Lecomte swam through the GPGP in 2019, covering 338 miles over 80 days, collecting samples and raising awareness.

Technological innovations, such as the Waste Shark and the Clearbot Nia, offer promising prospects for cleaning up plastic pollution. The Waste Shark can collect up to 21,000 bottles worth of plastic on one battery charge. The Clearbot Nia can collect over 2,000 kg of plastic per day and filter out oil from the water, costing only around $1,000 per robot.

Prevention and Conclusion

The most practical way to address ocean garbage patches is to reduce plastic pollution at the source. In 2022, the United Nations Environmental Assembly passed resolution 5/14 to phase out plastic pollution. Norway and Rwanda intend to completely phase out ocean dumping of petrochemicals by 2040.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch poses a significant threat to world wildlife, and stopping its spread is a daunting task. The GPGP is the plastic-filled stomach of the Pacific ecosystem, and it remains to be seen if humanity will be able to purge it properly.