How large is the plastic island in the Pacific Ocean?
Great Pacific garbage patch
The patch is not easily seen from the sky, because the plastic is dispersed over a large area. Researchers from The Ocean Cleanup project claimed that the patch covers 1.6 million square kilometers. The plastic concentration is estimated to be up to 100 kilograms per square kilometer in the center, going down to 10 kilograms per square kilometer in the outer parts of the patch. An estimated 80,000 metric tons of plastic inhabit the patch, totaling 1.8 trillion pieces. 92% of the mass in the patch comes from objects larger than 0.5 centimeters.
Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument
On June 17, 2014, U.S. President Barack Obama proposed using his executive powers to expand the marine protected area to . Sport fishing is exempt and public comments were solicited. He then signed a proclamation on September 25, 2014, expanding the Monument to six times its original size, resulting in 490,343 square miles (1,269,982 square kilometers) of protected area around these tropical islands and atolls in the south-central Pacific Ocean. Expanding the Monument protected the deep coral reefs, seamounts, and marine ecosystems unique to this part of the world, which are also among the most vulnerable areas to the impacts of climate change and ocean acidification.
Palmyra Atoll
Palmyra Atoll's location in the Pacific Ocean, where the southern and northern currents meet, results in its beaches becoming littered with trash and debris. Plastic mooring buoys and plastic bottles are plentiful on the beaches of Palmyra.
Great Pacific garbage patch
No strong scientific data concerning the origins of pelagic plastics. In a 2014 study researchers sampled 1571 locations throughout the world's oceans, and determined that discarded fishing gear such as buoys, lines and nets accounted for more than 60% of the mass of plastic marine debris. According to a 2011 EPA report, "The primary source of marine debris is the improper waste disposal or management of trash and manufacturing products, including plastics (e.g., littering, illegal dumping) ... Debris is generated on land at marinas, ports, rivers, harbors, docks, and storm drains. Debris is generated at sea from fishing vessels, stationary platforms, and cargo ships." Constituents range in size from miles-long abandoned fishing nets to micro-pellets used in cosmetics and abrasive cleaners. Currents carry debris from the west coast of North America to the gyre in about six years, and from the east coast of Asia in a year or less.
Rongelap Atoll
Rongelap Atoll (Marshallese: , ) is a coral atoll of 61 islands (or motus) in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its total land area is . It encloses a lagoon with an area of . It is historically notable for its close proximity to US hydrogen bomb tests in 1954, and was particularly devastated by fallout from the Castle Bravo test. Twenty people remain from the more than 300 who lived there prior to the test.
Bag It (film)
Jeb Berrier is exploring the effects of plastic bags, opting to stop using them as his wife enters pregnancy. After conducting research with the help of an environmental scientist, Berrier analyzes environmental problems such as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Plastic fragments are found to outnumber plankton 60-to-1, and contributes to around 100,000 marine animal deaths, including birds, every year. Calls to the American Chemical Society prove to be fruitless. He later discovers that plastics contain chemicals such as [phthalate]s that can carry adverse effects to newborn babies, including decreased anogenital distance. Berrier reflects on the rising rates of male infertility and other such as diabetes, obesity and attention deficit disorder, linking it to the ever-present problem of plastics. The average consumer household products such as baby shampoos are also found to contain unsafe levels of phthalates. When Jeb's partner, Anne, gives birth, the film gets personal and looks at recently controversial chemicals such as Bisphenol A found in plastics. The film concludes with a review of recycling labels and shows ways that average citizens and consumers can minimize the harmful impact of plastic by reducing its use.
Waste management in Thailand
Thailand is a profligate user of one-time use plastics. Thais use 70 billion plastic bags a year. The country is a major contributor, along with China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Sri Lanka, of up to 60 percent of plastic pollution in oceans. Thailand's 23 coastal provinces dump an estimated one million tonnes of garbage into the sea each year. Plastic bags make up 15 percent, plastic straws account for seven percent, and cigarette butts five percent. According to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, 150 sea turtles, 100 whales and dolphins, and 12 dugongs die each year from discarded trash, half of which die from eating plastic bags.
Marine pollution
The amount of awareness on marine pollution is vital to the support of keeping the prevention of trash from entering waterways and ending up in our oceans. The EPA reports that in 2014 Americans generated about 258 million tons of waste, and only a third was recycled or composted. In 2015, there was over 8 million tons of plastic that made it into the ocean. Through more sustainable packing this could lead to; eliminating toxic constituents, using fewer materials, making more readily available recyclable plastic. However, awareness can only take these initiatives so far. The most abundant plastic is PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) and is the most resistant to biodegradables. Researchers have been making great strides in combating this problem. In one way has been by adding a special polymer called a tetrablock copolymer. The tetrablock copolymer acts as a laminate between the PE and iPP which enables for an easier breakdown but still be tough. Through more awareness, individuals will become more cognizant of their carbon footprints. Also, from research and technology, more strides can be made to aid in the plastic pollution problem.
Marine debris
Plastic waste has reached all the world's oceans. This plastic pollution harms an estimated 100,000 sea turtles and marine mammals and 1,000,000 sea creatures each year. Larger plastics (called "macroplastics") such as plastic shopping bags can clog the digestive tracts of larger animals when consumed by them and can cause starvation through restricting the movement of food, or by filling the stomach and tricking the animal into thinking it is full. Microplastics on the other hand harm smaller marine life. For example, pelagic plastic pieces in the center of our ocean’s gyres outnumber live marine plankton, and are passed up the food chain to reach all marine life. A 1994 study of the seabed using trawl nets in the North-Western Mediterranean around the coasts of Spain, France, and Italy reported mean concentrations of debris of 1,935 items per square kilometre. Plastic debris accounted for 77%, of which 93% was plastic bags.
Ocean gyre
Ocean gyres are known to collect pollutants. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch in the central North Pacific Ocean is a gyre of marine debris particles and floating trash halfway between Hawaii and California, and extends over an indeterminate area of widely varying range depending on the degree of plastic concentration used to define it. An estimated 80,000 metric tons of plastic inhabit the patch, totaling 1.8 trillion pieces. 92% of the mass in the patch comes from objects larger than 0.5 centimeters.
Rennell Island
Rennell Island, locally known as Mugaba, is the main island of two inhabited islands that make up the Rennell and Bellona Province in the Solomon Islands. Rennell Island has a land area of that is about long and wide. It is the second largest raised coral atoll in the world with the largest lake in the insular Pacific (Lake Tegano), a lake that is listed as a World Heritage Site. Rennell Island has a population of about 1840 persons of Polynesian descent who primarily speak Rennellese, Pijin and some English. Rennell and Bellona Islands are two of the few islands in the Melanesian Solomon Island archipelago classified as a Polynesian outlier (others being Sikaiana, Ontong Java, Tikopia, Anuta, Duff Islands, and some Reef Islands).
Great Pacific garbage patch
The size of the patch is indefinite, as is the precise distribution of debris, because large items are uncommon. Most debris consists of small plastic particles suspended at or just below the surface, evading detection by aircraft or satellite. Instead, the size of the patch is determined by sampling. Estimates of size range from  (about the size of Texas) to more than (about the size of Russia). Such estimates, however, are conjectural given the complexities of sampling and the need to assess findings against other areas. Further, although the size of the patch is determined by a higher-than-normal degree of concentration of pelagic debris, there is no standard for determining the boundary between "normal" and "elevated" levels of pollutants to provide a firm estimate of the affected area.
Marine debris
Eighty percent of marine debris is plastic. Plastics accumulate because they typically do not biodegrade as many other substances do. They photodegrade on exposure to sunlight, although they do so only under dry conditions, as water inhibits photolysis. In a 2014 study using computer models, scientists from the group 5 Gyres, estimated 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic weighing 269,000 tons were dispersed in oceans in similar amount in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, and one-hundredth of them are particles the scale of a sand.
Coral Triangle
The Coral Triangle is a geographical term so named as it refers to a roughly triangular area of the tropical marine waters of Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste that contain at least 500 species of reef-building corals in each ecoregion. This region encompasses portions of two biogeographic regions: the Indonesian-Philippines Region, and the Far Southwestern Pacific Region. The Coral Triangle is recognized as the global centre of marine biodiversity and a global priority for conservation. It is also called the "Amazon of the seas" and covers of ocean waters. Its biological resources sustain the lives of over 120 million people.
According to the Coral Triangle Knowledge Network, about $3 billion in fisheries exports and another $3 billion in coastal tourism revenues are derived as annual foreign exchange income in the region.
Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island is in the northeastern Pacific Ocean. It is part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in area. It is the largest island on the West Coast of North America.
Plastic pollution
The majority of the litter near and in the ocean is made up of plastics and is a persistent pervasive source of marine pollution. According to Dr. Marcus Eriksen of The 5 Gyres Institute, there are 5.25 trillion particles of plastic pollution that weigh as much as 270,000 tons (2016). This plastic is taken by the ocean currents and accumulates in large vortexes known as ocean gyres. The majority of the gyres become pollution dumps filled with plastic.
Protection Island (Washington)
Protection Island is an island located in the Strait of Juan de Fuca just north of Discovery Bay in northeastern Jefferson County, Washington, United States. The island has a land area of 1.534 km (379.11 acres). It is a federally protected National Wildlife Refuge; boats are not permitted within 200 yards (183 m) for the safety and health of wildlife on and near the shores. There is only one individual still living on the island not associated with the government, an inholder named Marty Bluewater who has lifetime use of his cabin on the island's southern bluffs. The island also houses a caretaker, a volunteer hired by the Fish and Wildlife department to watch over the island, and take care of its many inhabitants
Save the Plastic Bag Coalition v. City of Manhattan Beach
The high-density polyethylene (HDPE) single-use bag was invented by a Swedish company in the 1960s. The single-use plastic bag was introduced into the U.S. by ExxonMobil Corporation and had found its way to grocery stores by 1976. In the United States, there are approximately 92 billion plastic bags used annually by retail industries such as supermarkets and pharmacies as compared to roughly 5 billion paper bags. From a global perspective, it is estimated there are anywhere from 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags used each year. Due to concerns over litter and impacts to marine wildlife and environments, many countries have either banned or placed levies on plastic bags. Within the United States, there are 16 states that have introduced some type of legislation banning, imposing fees, or mandating plastic bag recycling. Following the San Francisco 2007 ordinance banning plastic bags, twelve California cities have enacted plastic bag ordinances, including Malibu, Santa Monica, Fairfax, Palo Alto, Long Beach and Manhattan Beach. Similar actions have taken place at the county level in Los Angeles, Marin and Santa Clara counties with numerous other cities and counties following suit with proposed plastic bag ordinances pending activation. In efforts to respond to pressure from retailers and environmental and special interest groups, the plastic bag industry is looking to increase the amount of recycled material in plastic bags to 40% by the year 2015. The plastic bag industry believes that by increasing the recycling of plastic bags, some 463 million pounds of greenhouse gas emissions and 300 million pounds of waste will be avoided on an annual basis.
Ulithi
Ulithi (, , or ) is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about east of Yap. It consists of 40 islets totalling , surrounding a lagoon about long and up to wide—at one of the largest in the world. It is administered by the state of Yap in the Federated States of Micronesia. Ulithi's population was 773 in 2000. There are four inhabited islands on Ulithi Atoll. They are Falalop (), Asor "(Yasor)", Mogmog "(Mwagmwog)", and Fedarai "(Fedraey)". Falalop is the most accessible with an air strip, a small resort hotel, gas dealership, store and one of three public high schools in Yap state. Mogmog is the seat of the high chief of Ulithi Atoll though each island has its own chief. Other important islands are Losiap (), Sorlen "(Sohl'oay)", and Potangeras "(Potoangroas)".
The atoll is in the westernmost of the Caroline Islands, southwest of Guam, east of the Philippines and south of Tokyo. It is a typical volcanic atoll, with a coral reef, white sand beaches and palm trees. Ulithi's forty small islands barely rise above the sea, with the largest being only in area. However the reef runs roughly north and south, by across, enclosing a vast anchorage with an average depth of .
Project Kaisei
On reaching the patch, 1,000 miles from the Californian coast, "New Horizon" began intensive sampling on 9 August. The crew took samples every few hours around the clock, using nets of various sizes and collecting samples at various depths. "New Horizon" returned on Friday 21 August 2009. SEAPLEX reported their initial findings on Thursday 27 August 2009, declaring that the patch stretched at least 1,700 miles across, and that from 100 consecutive surface samples taken along that 1,700 path track taken through the patch, plastic was found in every one. Miriam Goldstein, chief scientist of the SEAPLEX expedition described the findings as "shocking". Speaking about the patch, Goldstein added, "There’s no island, there’s no eighth continent, it doesn’t look like a garbage dump. It looks like beautiful ocean. But then when you put the nets in the water, you see all the little pieces.”
Plastic soup
The term was coined by Charles J. Moore in 1997, after he found patches of plastic pollution in the North Pacific Gyre between Hawaii and California. This Great Pacific Garbage Patch had previously been described in 1988 by scientists who used the term neuston plastic to describe "The size fraction of plastic debris caught in nets designed to catch surface plankton (hereafter referred to as neuston plastic)", and acknowledged that earlier studies in the 1970s had shown that "neuston plastic is widespread, is most abundant in the central and western North Pacific, and is distributed by currents and winds".
Plastic pollution
Plastic pollution does not only affect animals that live solely in oceans. Seabirds are also greatly affected. In 2004, it was estimated that gulls in the North Sea had an average of thirty pieces of plastic in their stomachs. 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. Toxic chemicals called "polychlorinated biphenyls" (PCBs) also become concentrated on the surface of plastics at sea and are released after seabirds eat them. These chemicals can accumulate in body tissues and have serious lethal effects on a bird's reproductive ability, immune system, and hormone balance. Floating plastic debris can produce ulcers, infections and lead to death. Marine plastic pollution can even reach birds that have never been at the sea. Parents may accidentally feed their nestlings plastic, mistaking it for food. Seabird chicks are the most vulnerable to plastic ingestion since they can't vomit up their food like the adult seabirds.
2016 California Proposition 67
The United States Environmental Protection Agency describes both the Pollution Prevention Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act as establishing a nationwide objective for environmental protection. In detailing the wave of communities initiating bans on single-use plastic bags, the EPA cites the following rationale for limits on single-use plastic bags:
Single-use plastic bags are considered to be a major contributor to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, an area in the Pacific Ocean with high concentrations of litter and floating plastic by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Plastic bullet
The first plastic bullet was made of PVC, was 89 mm (3.5 inches) long and 38 mm (1.5in) in diameter, and weighed approximately . The weight was similar to the rubber bullet but the new projectile had a lower muzzle velocity.
Plastic
The presence of plastics, particularly microplastics, within the food chain is increasing. In the 1960s microplastics were observed in the guts of seabirds, and since then have been found in increasing concentrations. The long-term effects of plastic in the food chain are poorly understood. In 2009, it was estimated that 10% of modern waste was plastic, although estimates vary according to region. Meanwhile, 50–80% of debris in marine areas is plastic.
Plastic pollution
Research published in April 2017 reported "the highest density of plastic rubbish anywhere in the world" on remote and uninhabited Henderson Island in South Pacific as a result of the South Pacific Gyre. The beaches contain an estimated 37.7 million items of debris together weighing 17.6 tonnes. In a study transect on North Beach, each day 17 to 268 new items washed up on a 10-metre section. The study noted that purple hermit crabs ("Coenobita spinosus") make their homes in plastic containers washed up on beaches.
Plastic pollution
Plastic debris is categorized as macrodebris when it is larger than 20 mm. These include items such as plastic grocery bags. Macrodebris are often found in ocean waters, and can have a serious impact on the native organisms. Fishing nets have been prime pollutants. Even after they have been abandoned, they continue to trap marine organisms and other plastic debris. Eventually, these abandoned nets become too difficult to remove from the water because they become too heavy, having grown in weight up to 6 tons.
Marine pollution
Plastic debris tends to accumulate at the centre of ocean gyres. The North Pacific Gyre, for example, has collected the so-called "Great Pacific Garbage Patch", which is now estimated to be one to twenty times the size of Texas (approximately from 700,000 to 15,000,000 square kilometers). There could be as much plastic as fish in the sea. It has a very high level of plastic particulate suspended in the upper water column. In samples taken in 1999, the mass of plastic exceeded that of zooplankton (the dominant animal life in the area) by a factor of six.
Angela Sun
Sun directed and produced her first feature-length documentary, "Plastic Paradise: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch", examining the plastic pollution in the oceans and its effects on the environment, marine life, and ultimately humans. The Great Pacific garbage patch is a huge collection of trash trapped in a gyre in the Pacific Ocean.
South Pacific garbage patch
During the 5 Gyres expedition, 48 samples were taken from a 2,424 nautical sweep. The researchers found an increase in plastic pollution density, averaging 26,898 particles per square kilometer, but spiking at up to 396,342 particles per square kilometer, peaking near the center of the predicted accumulation zone, with some estimates as high as one million particles per square kilometer.
South Pacific garbage patch
As the plastic particles are primarily found in the pelagic layer of the ocean they experience high levels of Photodegradation, which causes the plastics to break down into ever smaller pieces. These pieces eventually become so small that even microorganisms can ingest and metabolize them converting these plastics into carbon dioxide. In some instances these microplastics absorb directly into a microorganisms' biomolecules. However, before reaching this state any number of organisms could potentially interact with these plastics. During their expedition in 2016-17, Charles Moore and Algalita found that more than 35% of south Pacific Lanternfish had consumed plastic particles. When ingested by the fish the chemical compounds found in these plastics cannot be digested. This can effect Humans as the Lanternfish is a food source for both salmon and tuna. In their PNAS journal, Dr Van Sebille and his colleagues report data showing that in 1960 less than 5% of seabirds were found to have consumed waste material, while as of August 2015 that figure climbed to about 90%. It is predicted that by 2050, 99%of seabirds will have consumed such materials. Scientists studying the stomach contents of Laysan Albatross chicks report a 40% mortality rate before fledgling. When the stomach contents were analyzed following necropsies, they were found to contain plastic waste. Not only do plastic pellets used in manufacturing worldwide absorb toxic chemicals such as DDT and PCBs from the water, but can even leach chemicals such as biphenyl. It is estimated that up to 267 marine species are affected by plastic pollution.
Great Pacific garbage patch
In 2009, two project vessels from Project Kaisei, the "New Horizon" and the "Kaisei", embarked on a voyage to research the patch and determine the feasibility of commercial scale collection and recycling. The 2009 SEAPLEX expedition also researched the patch. Researchers were also looking at the impact of plastic on mesopelagic fish, such as lanternfish.
Great Pacific garbage patch
In August 2009, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography/Project Kaisei SEAPLEX survey mission of the Gyre found that plastic debris was present in 100 consecutive samples taken at varying depths and net sizes along a path of through the patch. The survey found that, although the patch contains large pieces, it is on the whole made up of smaller items that increase in concentration toward the gyre's centre, and these 'confetti-like' pieces that are visible just beneath the surface suggests the affected area may be much smaller. 2009 data collected from Pacific albatross populations suggest the presence of two distinct debris zones.
Margaret Wertheim
The "Toxic Reef" is also the creation of the Wertheim twins. It is crocheted plastic bags to water bottles to videotapes, as a representation of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a gigantic gyre of plastic debris in the Pacific Ocean.
South Pacific garbage patch
The South Pacific garbage patch is an area of elevated levels of marine debris and plastic particle pollution, most of which is concentrated within the ocean's pelagic zone. It is located within the South Pacific Gyre, which itself spans from waters east of Australia to the South American continent, as far north as the Equator, and south until reaching the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. The degradation of plastics in the ocean also leads to a rise in the level of toxins in the area. This garbage patch is the most recently discovered having only been confirmed in mid-2017. The South Pacific garbage patch has been compared in nature to the Great Pacific garbage patch's state in 2007, making the former ten years younger. The garbage patch is impossible to detect using satellites, or other visual means as most particles are smaller than a grain of rice.
Mark McGowan (performance artist)
"Killed By Plastic" was a demonstration/stunt by McGowan commissioned by Global Ocean in early 2008 to raise awareness of plastics in marine debris, killing an estimated 100,000 sea animals every year, and noting especially the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. "Killed By Plastic" was performed at the Salvador Carnival, Bahia, Brazil, described as the "largest carnival in the world" and attended by five million people. McGowan pulled a massive fishing net filled with plastic waste weighing 300 kilograms for 8 km along the official route.
Great Pacific garbage patch
The patch is one of several oceanic regions where researchers have studied the effects and impact of plastic photodegradation in the neustonic layer of water. Unlike organic debris, which biodegrades, plastic disintegrates into ever smaller pieces while remaining a polymer (without changing chemically). This process continues down to the molecular level. Some plastics decompose within a year of entering the water, releasing potentially toxic chemicals such as bisphenol A, PCBs and derivatives of polystyrene. As the plastic flotsam photodegrades into smaller and smaller pieces, it concentrates in the upper water column. As it disintegrates, the pieces become small enough to be ingested by aquatic organisms that reside near the ocean's surface. Plastic may become concentrated in neuston, thereby entering the food chain.
British Indian Ocean Territory
The BIOT Patrol Vessel the MV "Pacific Marlin" is based in Diego Garcia. It is presently operated by the Swire Pacific Offshore Group under a 4-year contract with the BIOT Administration, which was renewed on 1 January 2011. The MV Pacific Marlin patrols the marine reserve all year, and since the marine reserve was designated in April 2010, the number of apprehensions of illegal vessels within the area has increased. The "Pacific Marlin" was built in 1978 as an oceangoing tug. It is 57.7 metres long with a draft of 3.8 metres and gross tonnage 1,200. It has a maximum speed of 12.5 knots with an economic speed of 11 knots, permitting a range of about 18,000 nautical miles and fuel endurance of 68 days. It is the oldest vessel in the Swire fleet.
Geography of Chile
Chilean territory extends as far west as Polynesia. The best known of Chile's Pacific Islands is Easter Island (Isla de Pascua, also known by its Polynesian name of Rapa Nui), with a population of 2,800 people. Located west of Chile's mainland port of Caldera, just below the Tropic of Capricorn, Easter Island provides Chile a gateway to the Pacific. It is noted for its 867 monoliths (moais), which are huge (up to twenty meters high) and mysterious, expressionless faces sculpted of volcanic stone. The Juan Fernández Islands, located west of Valparaíso, are the locale of a small fishing settlement. They are famous for their lobster and the fact that one of the islands, Robinson Crusoe Island, is where Alexander Selkirk, the inspiration for Daniel Defoe's novel, was marooned for about four years.
Microplastics
Microplastics could contribute up to 30% of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch polluting the world’s oceans and, in many developed countries, are a bigger source of marine plastic pollution than the visible larger pieces of marine litter, according to a 2017 IUCN report.
Galápagos Islands
In 1986, the 70,000 square kilometers (27,000 sq mi) of ocean surrounding the islands was declared a marine reserve, second in size only to Australia's Great Barrier Reef. In 1990, the archipelago became a whale sanctuary. UNESCO recognised the islands in 1978 as a World Heritage Site and in 1985, as a biosphere reserve. This was later extended in December 2001 to include the marine reserve.
In July 2010, the World Heritage Committee agreed to remove the Galápagos Islands from its list of precious sites endangered by environmental threats or overuse.
The Plastic Bank
Every year, 8 million metric tons of plastic end up in the world’s oceans. This is the equivalent of five grocery bags filled with plastic for every foot of coastline in the world. The demand for plastic is expected to quadruple in production by 2050.
Pacific cod
It has three separate dorsal fins, and the catfish-like whiskers on its lower jaw. In appearance, it is similar to the Atlantic cod. A bottom dweller, it is found mainly along the continental shelf and upper slopes with a range around the rim of the North Pacific Ocean, from the Yellow Sea to the Bering Strait, along the Aleutian Islands, and south to about Los Angeles, down to the depths of 900 meters (~ 3000 feet). May grow up to 1 m (39") and weigh up to 15 kg (33 lbs). It is found in huge schools.
Microbead-Free Waters Act 2015
Plastic marine debris is one of the largest contributors to global change and makes up the majority of marine litter worldwide. Plastics are made from petroleum and are highly carcinogenic, they absorb persistent organic pollutants, leach chemicals that are toxic to humans and other organisms, degrade ocean and terrestrial ecosystems, and impact migratory patterns, trophic structures (food chains), and habitats around the world. Plastics are a direct threat to the well-being of marine life and marine ecosystems as they can lead to entanglement causing animals to drown, it can impair their ability to catch food, and ingested plastics can block digestive tracts and cause starvation and even death. The detrimental impacts that plastics have on these animals affects not only their livelihood, but also the balance of ocean ecosystem and the socioeconomic services they provide for human benefit. With the numerous health and environmental concerns that plastics pose, bans against many single use plastic products have become more and more prevalent throughout local and state governments in the United States and even in other countries across the globe.
Roughly 80% of ocean pollution comes from anthropogenic activity, with plastics making up 60-95% of it. Plastic particles are found throughout all of the oceans worldwide and they accumulate in gyres located in between Earth's continents. Plastics that persist in the environment come from a wide range of sources including plastic bags, beverage containers, plastic packaging, fishing lines and ropes, and microplastics. Microplastics are defined as plastic particles up to five millimeters in diameter and include fragments from larger, previously broken down plastic items, clothing fibers (acrylic and polyester), and small particles referred to as microbeads.
Plastic pollution
Almost 20% of plastic debris that pollutes ocean water, which translates to 5.6 million tons, comes from ocean-based sources. MARPOL, an international treaty, "imposes a complete ban on the at-sea disposal of plastics". Merchant ships expel cargo, sewage, used medical equipment, and other types of waste that contain plastic into the ocean. In the United States, the Marine Plastic Pollution Research and Control Act of 1987 prohibits discharge of plastics in the sea, including from naval vessels. Naval and research vessels eject waste and military equipment that are deemed unnecessary. Pleasure crafts release fishing gear and other types of waste, either accidentally or through negligent handling. The largest ocean-based source of plastic pollution is discarded fishing gear (including traps and nets), estimated to be up to 90% of plastic debris in some areas.
Bottled water ban
The overuse of plastics results in a dumping of plastics into the oceans at a rate of 8 million tons per year. The pilling up of plastics around the world continues to build up and now will facing issues like the Great Pacific garbage patch. Scientists now have estimated that at the rate will continue to dump plastics into our oceans, by 2050 there will have more plastic than fish in our oceans.
Harbor Island, Seattle
Harbor Island lost its title as the world's largest artificial island in 1938 with the completion of Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay, at 395 acres (1.60 km²). It regained the title in 1967, at which time its area had increased to nearly 397 acres (1.61 km²), but has been far surpassed in area since; as of 2004 Rokko Island in Kobe harbor in Japan is over 3.5 times larger. The official land area as reported by the United States Census Bureau was , at the 2000 census. There was also a permanent population of three persons reported on the island at that time.
United Nations Ocean Conference
Over 1,300 voluntary commitments have been made which UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Wu Hongbo called "truly impressive" and stated that they now comprise "an ocean solution registry" via the public online platform. 44 percent of the commitments came from governments, 19 percent from NGOs, 9 percent from UN entities and 6 percent from the private sector.
Delegates from China, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines pledged to work to keep plastics out of the seas. The Maldives announced a phase out of its non-biodegradable plastic and Austria pledged to reduce the number of plastic bags used per person to 25 a year by 2019.
Several nations announced plans for new marine protected areas. China plans to establish 10 to 20 "demonstration zones" by 2020 and introduced a regulation which requires that 35 percent of the country's shoreline should be natural by 2020. Gabon announced that it will create one of Africa's largest marine protected areas with around 53,000 square kilometres of ocean when combined with its existing zones. New Zealand affirmed the government's commitment to establishing the Kermadec/Rangitahua Ocean Sanctuary, which − with 620,000 square kilometres − would be one of the world's largest fully protected areas. Pakistan also announced its first marine protected area.
The US-based international wildlife organisation Wildlife Conservation Society created the MPA Fund in 2016 as well as the blue moon fund for a combined $15 million commitment which aims to create 3.7 million square kilometers of new marine protected areas with The Tiffany & Co. Foundation adding a $1 million grant toward this fund in the week of the conference. Germany's Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety Barbara Hendricks also pledged to allocate €670 million for marine conservation projects and made 11 voluntary commitments.
Deputy Director-General of the State Oceanic Administrations Lin Shanqing of China − the world's main fish producer and exporter − stated that the country would be "willing, based on its own development experience, to work actively for the establishment in the area of the ocean of an open, inclusive, concrete, pragmatic, mutually beneficial and win-win blue partnership with other countries and international organizations".
The conference ended with the adoption by consensus of a 14-point Call for Action by the 193 UN member states in which they affirmed their "strong commitment to conserve and sustainably use our oceans, seas and marine resources tor sustainable development". With this call, the Ocean Conference also sought to raise global awareness of ocean problems.
The Ocean Cleanup
In December 2017, they published a paper in "Environmental Science & Technology" about pollutants in oceanic plastic, based upon data from the Mega Expedition. They found that 84% of their plastic samples had at least one PBT chemical with concentrations exceeding safe levels. Furthermore, they found 180 times more plastic than naturally occurring biomass on the surface in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
North Atlantic garbage patch
To study the scale of the marine debris accumulation in the area, the Sea Education Association (SEA) has been doing extensive research on the Atlantic Garbage Patch. Nearly 700,000 students from the SEA semester program have been dragging 6,100 fine-mesh nets through the Atlantic over 23 years. The gyre in the North Atlantic Ocean contains plastic marine pollution in a pattern and amount similar to what has been found in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Nikolai Maximenko of the University of Hawaii in Honolulu has been conducting research on the currents carrying the trash between Hawaii, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, and gyres in the Atlantic.
While eating their normal source of food, plastic ingestion can be unavoidable to wildlife, and several specimens have been found dead with copious amounts of indigestible trash in their bodies. Wildlife killed by ingestion of plastic that do not wash up on shore ultimately decompose in the ocean, re-releasing the plastics into the ecosystem to be consumed again. Although the patch is barely visible from overhead, as much as 70% of the trash is estimated to be on the ocean floor, where Microplastics only millimeters wide impact sealife at nearly every level of the food chain. The plastics also carry hazardous microbes not commonly found in the environment, furthering their toxic effect on marine wildlife. Humans eventually consume sea life, ingesting the same toxins and plastics consumed by the wildlife.
Lihou Reef National Nature Reserve
Lihou Reef is the second largest atoll by total size in the Coral Sea, after the Chesterfield Islands (not counting the completely submerged Lansdowne Bank in the easternmost reaches of the Coral Sea). It is U-shaped, with an opening in the south-west. The size of the lagoon is about 100 by 30 km, with an area of 2529 km², making the atoll one of the largest in the world. Nevertheless, the total land area of the islets and cays is little more than a square kilometre. The lagoon is up to 60 m deep. The reserve contains 18 islets and cays, 9 each on the Northern Rim and the Southern Rim, ranging in size from 5,000 to 168,000 m².
Plastic pollution
It was estimated that global production of plastics is approximately 250 mt/yr. Their abundance has been found to transport persistent organic pollutants, also known as POPs. These pollutants have been linked to an increased distribution of algae associated with red tides.
The distribution of plastic debris is highly variable as a result of certain factors such as wind and ocean currents, coastline geography, urban areas, and trade routes. Human population in certain areas also plays a large role in this. Plastics are more likely to be found in enclosed regions such as the Caribbean. It serves as a means of distribution of organisms to remote coasts that are not their native environments. This could potentially increase the variability and dispersal of organisms in specific areas that are less biologically diverse. Plastics can also be used as vectors for chemical contaminants such as persistent organic pollutants and heavy metals.
Plastic pollution
Continental plastic litter enters the ocean largely through storm-water runoff, flowing into watercourses or directly discharged into coastal waters. Plastic in the ocean has been shown to follow ocean currents which eventually form into what is known as Great Garbage Patches. Knowledge of the routes that plastic follows in ocean currents comes from accidental container drops from ship carriers. For example, in May 1990 The Hansa Carrier, sailing from Korea to the United States, broke apart due to a storm, ultimately resulting in thousands of dumped shoes; these eventually started showing up on the U.S western coast, and Hawaii.
Sea
Much floating plastic rubbish does not biodegrade, instead disintegrating over time and eventually breaking down to the molecular level. Rigid plastics may float for years. In the centre of the Pacific gyre there is a permanent floating accumulation of mostly plastic waste and there is a similar garbage patch in the Atlantic. Foraging sea birds such as the albatross and petrel may mistake debris for food, and accumulate indigestible plastic in their digestive systems. Turtles and whales have been found with plastic bags and fishing line in their stomachs. Microplastics may sink, threatening filter feeders on the seabed.
Plastic pollution
A 2017 study found that 83% of tap water samples taken around the world contained plastic pollutants. This was the first study to focus on global drinking water pollution with plastics, and showed that with a contamination rate of 94%, tap water in the United States was the most polluted, followed by Lebanon and India. European countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany and France had the lowest contamination rate, though still as high as 72%. This means that people may be ingesting between 3,000 and 4,000 microparticles of plastic from tap water per year. The analysis found particles of more than 2.5 microns in size, which is 2500 times bigger than a nanometer. It is currently unclear if this contamination is affecting human health, but if the water is also found to contain nano-particle pollutants, there could be adverse impacts on human well-being, according to scientists associated with the study.
Enewetak Atoll
Enewetak Atoll (; also spelled Eniwetok Atoll or sometimes Eniewetok; , , or , ) is a large coral atoll of 40 islands in the Pacific Ocean and with its 664 people (as of 2011) forms a legislative district of the Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands. With a land area total less than , it is no higher than 5 meters and surrounds a deep central lagoon, in circumference. It is the second-westernmost atoll of the Ralik Chain and is west from Bikini Atoll.
Lib Island
Lib Island (Marshallese: , ) is an island in the Pacific Ocean. It is a legislative district of the Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its total land area is 0.93 km. (0.36 sq. miles). The population of Lib Island is 115.
South Pacific garbage patch
One study shows estimates of 5.25 trillion individual pieces of microplastcs, weighing nearly 267,000 tons are currently floating in our oceans. It has been estimated that since being invented, 8.3 billion tons of plastics has been produced, with 80% (6.64 billion tons) being dumped in landfills, on land, and in the oceans. Plastic particles don't biodegrade or break down and instead just fragment into smaller pieces. If current trends in the amount of plastics flowing into our oceans continues, combined with overfishing, will result in plastics outweighing fish in the oceans by 2050.
Great Pacific garbage patch
The United Nations Ocean Conference estimated that the oceans might contain more weight in plastics than fish by the year 2050. Some long-lasting plastics end up in the stomachs of marine animals. Plastic attracts seabirds and fish. When marine life consumes plastic allowing it to enter the food chain, this can lead to greater problems when species that have consumed plastic are then eaten by other predators.
Pearl
The largest known pearl (also from a giant clam) is the Pearl of Puerto, also found in the Philippines by a fisherman from Puerto Princesa, Palawan Island. The enormous pearl is 30 cm wide (1 ft), 67 cm long (2.2 ft) and weighs 75 lb (34 kg).
Indian Ocean garbage patch
A similar patch of floating plastic debris in the Pacific Ocean, the Great Pacific garbage patch, was predicted in 1985, and discovered in 1997 by Charles J. Moore as he passed through the North Pacific Gyre on his return from the Transpacific Yacht Race. The North Atlantic garbage patch was discovered in 2010.
Bali
Indonesia is one of the world's worst plastic polluters, with some estimates suggesting that the 260 million-population, 3,000-mile-wide, 17,000-island archipelago is the source of around 10 per cent of the world's plastic waste. Indonesia's capital city Jakarta features several huge rubbish dumps and it is common to see swaths of plastics bobbing on the city's few waterways.
Great Pacific garbage patch
The 2012 Algalita/5 Gyres Asia Pacific Expedition began in the Marshall Islands on 1 May, investigated the patch, collecting samples for the 5 Gyres Institute, Algalita Marine Research Foundation and several other institutions, including NOAA, Scripps, IPRC and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. In 2012, the Sea Education Association (SEA) conducted research expeditions in the gyre. 118 net tows were conducted and nearly 70,000 pieces of plastic were counted.
5 Gyres
5 Gyres was the first organization to research plastic pollution in all five main subtropical gyres and first to determine how much plastic is on the surface of the world's oceans: Nearly 270,000 metric tons and 5.25 trillion pieces. They published this research as the Global Estimate of Plastic Pollution in 2014, which will update again in 2018. Historically, the group has presented traveling exhibits, including stops at universities and educational discussions; in 2016 their education presentations reached 3,000 students through the "Every Kid in a Park" program.
Marine debris
More than 37 million pieces of plastic debris have accumulated on Henderson Island, a remote Pitcairn island in the South Pacific, reported to be the highest density of debris reported anywhere in the world, yet the trash accounts for only 1.98 seconds’ worth of the annual global production of plastic.
Plastic pollution
An estimate of 1.5 million Laysan albatrosses, which inhabit Midway Atoll, all have plastics in their digestive system. Midway Atoll is halfway between Asia and North America, and north of the Hawaiian archipelago. In this remote location, the plastic blockage has proven deadly to these birds. These seabirds choose red, pink, brown, and blue plastic pieces because of similarities to their natural food sources. As a result of plastic ingestion, the digestive tract can be blocked resulting in starvation. The windpipe can also be blocked, which results in suffocation. The debris can also accumulate in the animal's gut, and give them a false sense of fullness which would also result in starvation. On the shore, thousands of birds corpses can be seen with plastic remaining where the stomach once was. The durability of the plastics is visible among the remains. In some instances, the plastic piles are still present while the bird's corpse has decayed.
Pacific Ocean
The largest area, Polynesia, stretching from Hawaii in the north to New Zealand in the south, also encompasses Tuvalu, Tokelau, Samoa, Tonga and the Kermadec Islands to the west, the Cook Islands, Society Islands and Austral Islands in the center, and the Marquesas Islands, Tuamotu, Mangareva Islands, and Easter Island to the east.
Marine debris
8.8 million metric tons of plastic waste are dumped in the world's oceans each year. Asia was the leading source of mismanaged plastic waste, with China alone accounting for 2.4 million metric tons.
Charles J. Moore
Charles J. Moore is an oceanographer and boat captain known for articles that recently brought attention to the 'Great Pacific Garbage Patch', an area of the Pacific Ocean strewn with floating plastic debris which is three times the size of Texas.
Environmental issues in Hawaii
Although plastic pollution remains under the umbrella of “marine debris”, it is one of the largest concerns affecting marine life and the most ubiquitous source of pollution across the oceans. In a 2014 study, the “first study that compares all sizes of floating plastic in the world's oceans from the largest items to small microplastics,” researchers estimated that a minimum of 5.25 trillion plastic particles exist in the ocean. Historically, the U.S. military used the ocean as a dumping ground for munitions from 1919 to 1970, and the U.S. army dumped 16,000 mustard gas bombs in deep water (south of Pearl Harbor after World War II.) Presently, floating plastic garbage from disposable consumer products accumulate in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, from debris eventually find its way onto the reefs and beaches in Hawaii. Kamilo Beach, located at the southern tip of the Big Island, has been devastated by plastic pollution from the patch and was named “The Dirtiest Beach in the World” by the British Broadcasting Company (BBC). Unique to this site is the abundance of both microplastic and meso-plastic, where geologists found plastic-infused rocks called"plastiglomerates”; they expect this new rock become a part of the fossil record, indicating the intensity of human influence on the environment. Plastiglomerates are formed when “melted plastic binds together sand, shells, pebbles, basalt, coral and wood, or seeps into the cavities of larger rocks to form a rock-plastic hybrid”; although they were not discovered until 2012 by Captain Charles Moore from Algalita Marine Research Institute, plastiglomerates occur in other parts of the world, in part by fire-using activities such as bonfires.
Los Angeles metropolitan area
The Pacific Plate is the largest known plate on Earth. It is considered an oceanic plate because it is much more dense than a continental plate. That is the reason why oceanic plates always subduct under another plate. There are only a few places where the Pacific Plate is actually above the ocean. Most of the coastline of the state, below Eureka, California is part of the Pacific plate. The thickest part on land in California can be observed as far inland as the Salton Sea. To the south of the Salon Sea, there is a gap between plate boundaries. This gap acts like a divergent plate boundary where the land is being pulled apart. Mud volcanoes can be observed just at the southern edge of the sea as well as hot springs. Geothermal energy plants are abundant in the area, which power much of the local rural communities.
Ailinginae Atoll
Ailinginae Atoll (Marshallese: , ) is an uninhabited (due to Castle Bravo nuclear testing) coral atoll of 25 islands in the Pacific Ocean, on the northern end of the Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its total land area is only , but it encloses a lagoon of . It is located approximately west of Rongelap Atoll. The landscape is low-lying with only the top 3 metres above sea level. The two entrances into the lagoon are 'Mogiri Pass' and 'Eniibukku Pass'. These are 0.9 and 0.3 miles wide respectively.
Philippine Sea
The Coral Triangle, or the Indo-Malayan Triangle, is considered as the global center of marine biodiversity, its total oceanic area approximately 2 million square kilometers. It encompasses the tropical waters of Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Timor-Leste, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands. The Philippines is found at the apex of the Coral Triangle, taking up of the Coral Triangle, with the country's coral reef area in the Coral Triangle ranging from to , which has over 500 species of scleractinian or stony corals, and 12 endemic coral species have been identified here as well.
Microplastics
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launched its "Trash-Free Waters" initiative in 2013 to prevent single-use plastic wastes from ending up in waterways and ultimately the ocean. EPA collaborates with the United Nations Environment Programme–Caribbean Environment Programme (UNEP-CEP) and the Peace Corps to reduce and also remove trash in the Caribbean Sea. EPA has also funded various projects in the San Francisco Bay Area including one that is aimed at reducing the use of single-use plastics such as disposable cups, spoons and straws, from three University of California campuses.
Pacific sandfish
Pacific sandfish are small, reaching a maximum length of 12 inches (30.5 cm) and a weight of 12 oz (350 g). They have a long, slender body, with a silvery belly and a darker top side with black spots. The fish's fins and tail are long and thin, with a scaleless body. The Pacific sandfish is found over muddy and sandy bottoms to depths of 1,230 feet (375 m). Females lay a clutch of about 1000 eggs during the spawning months in winter. After a one-year incubation, the eggs hatch 0.5 inch (14 mm) larvae. Sandfish larvae are excellent swimmers, swimming freely in open nearshore water, sometimes in the company of juvenile salmon. These schoolings of sandfish and salmon are considered beneficial to the former since the latter swarm in schools and give protection from predators to the normally solitary sandfish. Sandfish and salmon smolt are also considered to have the same diet, which is another theory for these schoolings.
Charles J. Moore
In 2008 the Foundation organized 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 raft made from an old Cessna 310 aircraft fuselage and six pontoons filled with 15,000 old plastic bottles. Crewed by Dr. Marcus Eriksen of the Foundation, and film-maker Joel Paschal, the raft set off from Long Beach, California on 1 June 2008, arriving in Honolulu, Hawaii on 28 August 2008. On the way, they gave valuable water supplies to Ocean rower Roz Savage, also on an environmental awareness voyage.
Environmental issues in Thailand
In February 2017, a 10 kilometer-long patch of plastic refuse was found floating off Chumphon Province. The Thai Marine and Coastal Resources Department has noted that at least 300 sea animals on average—60 per cent of which are whales and dolphins—die from eating plastic fishing gear and trash each year. Filter feeding invertebrates tested off the coast of Chonburi Province showed high levels of microplastics, leading the authors to warn that, "Health risks are possible when people consume these contaminated marine organisms, particularly shellfish."
Eil Malk
Eil Malk or Mecherchar is the main island of the Mecherchar Islands, an island group of Palau in the Pacific Ocean. In a more narrow sense, just the southeastern peninsula of Mecherchar is called Eil Malk. It is located 23 kilometers southeast of Koror near the fringing reef of Palau.
This densely wooded island has the shape of a letter Y, is up to 6 km long and 4.5 km wide. There are more than 10 small lakes on the island. Most well known is the Jellyfish Lake in the east of the island.
Prince Patrick Island
A member of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, Prince Patrick Island is the westernmost of the Queen Elizabeth Islands in the Northwest Territories of Canada. The area of the island is , making it the 55th largest island in the world and Canada's 14th largest island. It has historically been icebound all year, making it one of the least accessible parts of Canada.
Pacific, Wisconsin
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 21.6 square miles (55.9 km²), of which, 20.3 square miles (52.7 km²) of it is land and 1.3 square miles (3.3 km²) of it (5.88%) is water. Over of the town are owned by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, consisting mostly of the Swan Lake Wildlife Area.
Plastic pollution
There are three major forms of plastic that contribute to plastic pollution: microplastics as well as mega- and macro-plastics. Mega- and micro plastics have accumulated in highest densities in the Northern Hemisphere, concentrated around urban centers and water fronts. Plastic can be found off the coast of some islands because of currents carrying the debris. Both mega- and macro-plastics are found in packaging, footwear, and other domestic items that have been washed off of ships or discarded in landfills. Fishing-related items are more likely to be found around remote islands. These may also be referred to as micro-, meso-, and macro debris.
Annie Crawley
Her photographs for the 2014 book, "Plastic Ahoy!" by Patricia Newman, were called "captivating" by "Library Media Connection". The book was based on the 2009 Scripps Environmental Accumulation of Plastics Expedition or SEAPLEX to the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. The scientists on the expedition found that plastic was in nearly 10% of the fish they dissected. Based on their findings, fish in the gyre have eaten an estimated 12,000 to 14,000 tons of plastic.
List of airports in Tuvalu
Tuvalu, formerly known as the Ellice Islands, is a Polynesian island nation located in the Pacific Ocean, midway between Hawaii and Australia. Its nearest neighbours are Kiribati, Nauru, Samoa and Fiji. It comprises four reef islands and five true atolls. Its population of 12,373 makes it the second-least-populated sovereign state in the world, with only Vatican City having fewer inhabitants. In terms of physical land size, at just Tuvalu is the fourth smallest country in the world, larger only than the Vatican City at , Monaco at and Nauru at .
Microplastics
Shipping has significantly contributed to marine pollution. Some statistics indicate that in 1970, commercial shipping fleets around the world dumped over 23,000 tons of plastic waste into the marine environment. In 1988, an international agreement (MARPOL 73/78, Annex V) prohibited the dumping of waste from ships into the marine environment. However, shipping remains a dominant source of plastic pollution, having contributed around 6.5 million tons of plastic in the early 1990s. Research has shown that approximately 10% of the plastic found on the beaches in Hawaii are nurdles. In one incident on July 24th, 2012, 150 tonnes of nurdles and other raw plastic material spilled from a shipping vessel off the coast near Hong Kong after a major storm. This waste from the Chinese company Sinopec was reported to have piled up in large quantities on beaches. While this is a large incident of spillage, researchers speculate that smaller accidents also occur and further contribute to marine microplastic pollution.
Beachcat
One early beachcat, the Pacific cat, appeared in 1960 in California. The Pacific cat was designed by Carter Pyle and was first built in 1960. It was slightly smaller than 19 ft × 8 ft, and was a solid fiberglass catamaran with a solid core deck and traditional catamaran sail plan. The design's chief limitation was its weight of over 500 lb with approximately of sail area. The design was a traditional design with dagger boards and a hard deck. By comparison, the AQUA CAT 12 weighed 160 pounds and could easily be carried by two people, and the mast raised by one person.
SUPER HI-CAT
Previous research on the Plastic Patch had mostly focused on the effects of the plastic pieces on jellyfish, fish, sea turtles, and seabirds. Relatively little was known about how this type of marine debris would affect the microbial communities that make up 98% of the biomass in the ocean and control oceanic biogeochemistry. During this cruise, 30 sites were sampled. At 15 of these sites, a modified surface net called a manta trawl was used to collect plastic pieces, while water samples were collected from the upper 200 meters of the ocean. At the other 15 stations, only the surface waters were sampled. This study will allow researchers to begin to determine whether biofilms are forming on the plastic particles, whether the microbes living on the particles are different from the free-living planktonic organisms, and what effect these communities might have on the oceanic carbon cycle and nitrogen cycle.cruise page and data links
Whidbey Island
Whidbey Island is approximately long (if measured along roads traveled from the extreme north to extreme south), or about when measured along a straight line from north to south, and wide, with a total land area of , making it the 40th largest island in the United States. It is ranked as the fourth longest and fourth largest island in the contiguous United States, behind Long Island, New York; Padre Island, Texas (the world's longest barrier island); and Isle Royale, Michigan. In the state of Washington, it is the largest island, followed by Orcas Island.
Plastic resin pellet pollution
Plastic resin pellets are classified as primary source microplastics, meaning that they were intentionally produced at the size ranging from 1–5 mm in diameter. Approximately 60 billion pounds (27 million tonnes) of nurdles are manufactured annually in the United States. One pound of pelletized HDPE contains approximately 25,000 nurdles (approximately 20 mg per nurdle). They are typically under in diameter.
Pacific Ocean
Extending approximately from the Bering Sea in the Arctic to the northern extent of the circumpolar Southern Ocean at 60°S (older definitions extend it to Antarctica's Ross Sea), the Pacific reaches its greatest east-west width at about 5°N latitude, where it stretches approximately from Indonesia to the coast of Colombia—halfway around the world, and more than five times the diameter of the Moon. The lowest known point on Earth—the Mariana Trench—lies below sea level. Its average depth is , putting the total water volume at roughly .
Marine pollution
A growing concern regarding plastic pollution in the marine ecosystem is the use of microplastics. Microplastics are little beads of plastic less than 5 millimeters wide, and they are commonly found in hand soaps, face cleansers, and other exfoliators. When these products are used, the microplastics go through the water filtration system and into the ocean, but because of their small size they are likely to escape capture by the preliminary treatment screens on wastewater plants. These beads are harmful to the organisms in the ocean, especially filter feeders, because they can easily ingest the plastic and become sick. The microplastics are such a concern because it is difficult to clean them up due to their size, so humans can try to avoid using these harmful plastics by purchasing products that use environmentally safe exfoliates.
Eauripik
Eauripik Island is a coral atoll of three islands in the western Caroline Islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district in Yap State in the Federated States of Micronesia. 
Its total land area is only 23.6 hectares , but it encloses a deep lagoon of . With light southwest winds, there are usually breakers on both sides of the atoll. All of the islets are covered with coconut palms. There used to be five islets, but two were washed away in the late 1970s by typhoon waves.
Eauripik is located approximately southwest of Woleai.
Microplastics
Secondary plastics are small pieces of plastic derived from the breakdown of larger plastic debris, both at sea and on land. Over time, a culmination of physical, biological, and chemphotodegradation, including photodegradation caused by sunlight exposure, can reduce the structural integrity of plastic debris to a size that is eventually undetectable to the naked eye. This process of breaking down large plastic material into much smaller pieces is known as fragmentation. It is considered that microplastics might further degrade to be smaller in size, although the smallest microplastic reportedly detected in the oceans at present is 1.6 micrometres (6.3×10 in) in diameter. The prevalence of microplastics with uneven shapes suggests that fragmentation is a key source.
Archipelago Sea
The archipelago has a very large number of islands. The exact number depends on the definition of the term "island", as the size of the patches of dry land in the area varies from small rocks peeking out of the water to large islands with several villages or even small towns. The number of the larger islands of over 1 km within the Archipelago Sea (in provinces of Åland Isles and Southwest Finland) is 257, whilst the number of smaller isles of over 0.5 ha is about 17,700. If the number of smallest uninhabitable rocks and skerries is accounted, 50,000 is probably a good estimate. In comparison, the number of islands in Canadian Arctic Archipelago is 36,563. Indonesia has 17,508 islands, according to the Indonesian Naval Hydro-Oceanographic Office. The Philippines have 7,107 islands.
Poplar Island (Chesapeake Bay)
Since its reconstruction with dredged material began in 1998, Poplar Island had grown to 1,140 acres by 2005. Plans call for the addition of another 575 acres. Half of the island's acreage will be turned into wetlands and half into uplands. The project will use 68 million cubic yards of dredged material protected by 35,000 feet of containment dikes, built with 75% federal funding and 25% state funding. Only "clean" material, dredged from approach channels, is being used on Poplar Island. The Poplar Island restoration project will not use material dredged from close to Baltimore, which may be contaminated with heavy metals.
Geology of the Pacific Ocean
The Pacific is a broad ocean basin (unlike the narrow Atlantic Ocean) and extends over a width of between New Guinea and Peru. The andesite line, a zone of intense volcanic and seismic activity, is a major regional distinction in the Pacific. The petrologic boundary separates the deeper mafic igneous rock of the Central Pacific Basin from the partially submerged continental areas of felsic igneous rock on its margins. The andesite line follows the western edge of the islands off California and passes south of the Aleutian arc, along the eastern edge of the Kamchatka Peninsula, the Kuril Islands, Japan, the Mariana Islands, the Solomon Islands, and New Zealand's North Island.
Sea Life Bangkok Ocean World
Giant Pacific Octopus
The Giant Pacific Octopus is said to live the longest in the octopus species - that is about 4 years. Its size can reach up to a maximum of 30 feet and can weigh about 600 pounds. The octopus uses special pigment cells to camouflage with the most intricate patterns of corals and stones.
Project Kaisei
Project Kaisei (from 海星, "kaisei", "ocean planet" in Japanese) is a scientific and commercial mission to study and clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a large body of floating debris trapped in the Pacific Ocean by the currents of the North Pacific Gyre. Discovered by NOAA, the patch is estimated to contain 20 times the density of floating debris compared to the global average. The project aims to study the extent and nature of the debris with a view to capturing, detoxifying, and recycling the material, and is organised by the Ocean Voyages Institute, a California-based 501c3 non-profit organisation dealing with marine preservation. The project is based in San Francisco and Hong Kong.
Great Pacific garbage patch
Disintegration means that much of the plastic is too small to be seen. In a 2001 study, researchers found concentrations of plastic particles at 334,721 pieces per km with a mean mass of 5.1 kg (11.3 lbs) per km, in the neuston. The overall concentration of plastics was seven times greater than the concentration of zooplankton in many of the sampled areas. Samples collected deeper in the water column found much lower concentrations of plastic particles (primarily monofilament fishing line pieces).
Plastic pollution
As of 2018, about 380 million tons of plastic is produced worldwide each year. From the 1950s up to 2018, an estimated 6.3 billion tons of plastic has been produced worldwide, of which an estimated 9% has been recycled and another 12% has been incinerated. In the UK alone, more than 5 million tonnes of plastic are consumed each year, of which only an estimated one-quarter is recycled, with the remainder going to landfills. This large amount of plastic waste inevitably enters the environment, with studies suggesting that the bodies of 90% of seabirds contain plastic debris. In some areas there have been significant efforts to reduce the prominence of plastic pollution, through reducing plastic consumption and promoting plastic recycling.
The Ocean Cleanup
In November, the project attempted to open the mouth of the U widened by 60-70 m. This was not successful. In January 2019 the system was brought back to shore after a break in the structure was observed due to mechanical stress. Before the retreat, the system had captured some 2,000 kg of plastic.
Loggerhead sea turtle
Nearly 24,000 metric tons of plastic are dumped into the ocean each year. Turtles ingest a wide array of this floating debris, including bags, sheets, pellets, balloons and abandoned fishing line. Loggerheads may mistake the floating plastic for jellyfish, a common food item. The ingested plastic causes numerous health concerns, including intestinal blockage, reduced nutrient absorption and malnutrition, suffocation, ulcerations, or starvation. Ingested plastics release toxic compounds, including polychlorinated biphenyls, which may accumulate in internal tissues. Such toxins may lead to a thinning of eggshells, tissue damage, or deviation from natural behaviors.