Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Marine debris, also known as marine litter, is human-created solid material that has deliberately or accidentally been released in seas or the ocean.Floating oceanic debris tends to accumulate at the center of gyres and on coastlines, frequently washing aground, when it is known as beach litter or tidewrack.
While "Great Pacific Garbage Patch" is a term often used by the media, it does not paint an accurate picture of the marine debris problem in the North Pacific Ocean. The name "Pacific Garbage Patch" has led many to believe that this area is a large and continuous patch of easily visible marine debris items such as bottles and other litter ...
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (also Pacific trash vortex and North Pacific Garbage Patch [9]) is a garbage patch, a gyre of marine debris particles, in the central North Pacific Ocean. It is located roughly from 135°W to 155°W and 35°N to 42°N . [ 10 ]
Moore is the founder of the Algalita Marine Research and Education [4] in Long Beach, California.. In 2008 the Foundation co-sponsored the JUNK Raft project, to "creatively raise awareness about plastic debris and pollution in the ocean", and specifically the Great Pacific Garbage Patch trapped in the North Pacific Gyre, by sailing 2,600 miles across the Pacific Ocean on a 30-foot-long (9.1 m ...
Floating island of garbage or island of floating trash, could refer to: Garbage patch, a collection of floating detritus formed from trash coming together in a mass in the ocean becoming like an island Great Pacific Garbage Patch; Thilafushi (Dhivehi: ތިލަފުށި), Maldives; an artificial island created as a landfill trash dump; so ...
Marine debris is mainly discarded human rubbish which floats on, or is suspended in the ocean. Plastic pollution is harmful to marine life . Another concern is the runoff of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) from intensive agriculture , and the disposal of untreated or partially treated sewage to rivers and subsequently oceans.
Seabirds often mistake trash floating on the ocean's surface as prey. Their food sources often has already ingested plastic debris, thus transferring the plastic from prey to predator. Ingested trash can obstruct and physically damage a bird's digestive system, reducing its digestive ability and can lead to malnutrition, starvation, and death.
Litter in the ocean either washes up on beaches or collects in ocean gyres such as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. About 80 percent of marine debris comes from land-based sources. [22] Some litter that is collected can be recycled; however, degraded litter cannot be recycled and eventually degrades to sludge, often toxic.