POSTED: 05:22 p.m. HST, May 08, 2012 LAST UPDATED: 04:41 a.m.
HST, May 09, 2012 SAN DIEGO >> An increase in plastic debris
floating in a zone between Hawaii and California is changing the
environment of at least one marine critter, scientists reported.
Over the past four decades, the amount of broken-down plastic
has grown significantly in a region dubbed the "Great Pacific
Garbage Patch." Most of the plastic pieces are the size of a
fingernail. During a seagoing expedition, researchers from the
Scripps Institution of Oceanography found that a marine insect
that skims the ocean surface is laying its eggs on top of
plastic bits instead of natural flotsam like wood and seashells.
Though plastic debris is giving the insects places to lay eggs,
scientists are concerned about the manmade material establishing
a role in their habitat. "This is something that shouldn't be in
the ocean and it's changing this small aspect of the ocean
ecology," said Scripps graduate student Miriam Goldstein. The
finding will be publis