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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.
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.
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 ]
The Ocean Cleanup, a Dutch nonprofit organization, has projected that the blight on the world's largest ocean could be removed within a decade and for around $7.5 billion.
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.
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 problem of ocean plastic debris is ubiquitous. It is estimated that 1.5–4% of global plastics production ends up in the oceans every year, mainly as a result of poor waste management infrastructure and practices combined with irresponsible attitudes to the use and disposal of plastics.