Marine DebrisBy: Angelica, Carissa and Samantha

Garbage PatchThe Great Pacific

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Pacific Garbage Patch?What is the

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• Gyre of marine debrisDefinition of marine debris:• Man made garbage that has been accidentally or

deliberately littered into a body of water• Common misconception, not just a few pieces of trash• One of the leading causes of pollution in our oceans6

Source of these debris?

• Estimated 20% ocean sources

80% land sources7

These can include:• Waste from ships/ fishing

vessels• Sewage related• Litter at

beaches/coastlines5

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Where is it Located?4

North Pacific Gyre• The “convergence zone”• 20o N and 40o S Latitude• 100-300 miles off coast of gyres center

2 Accumulation ZonesWestern Garbage Patch

• JapanEastern Garbage Patch

• Hawaii and California

How Large is the Garbage Patch

Undetermined, only estimated• Currents• Distribution and volume• 100 million tons up• Expanding 100 feet down• Not dense

Natural Disasters Effect SizeTsunamis • Indonesia in December 2004• Japan 2011Typhoons• Philippines 2013

Density ResearchIn 2012 researchers began looking at the effects

of the Tsunami in Japan of 2011.Estimate of debris location from Japan’s Tsunami

Density Research Continued14 researchers 2600 nautical miles

from Majuro, Japan to Tokyo in 19 daysEach team member was assigned a type of item to logThis research contributed to the study of the Garbage

Patch Density.2

http://www.algalita.org/uploads/2012_asia_pacific_expedition_report.pdf

Plastic DebrisFergusson (1974) for instance, then a member

of the Council of the British Plastics Federation and a Fellow of the Plastics Institute, stated that “plastics litter is a very small proportion of all litter and causes no harm to the environment except as an eyesore”

Does not biodegrade, it photodegradesPhotodegrades into small particulates

Plastic Debris (cont’d)Constitutes for 90% of all garbage floating in the

world~200 billion plastic produced each year and 10%

ends up in the ocean30 million tons of plastic is produced in the U.S.

annually70% of it sink to the ocean floor and the rest floats

Affects marine life, fishing, and tourism In some areas plastic outweighs phytoplankton 6:1

Drift Plastic

Who is Affected?

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http://www.greenpeace.org/international/Global/international/planet-2/report/2007/8/plastic_ocean_report.pdf

Ingestion of PlasticsAlbatross:Albatrosses live almost their entire lives at sea,

coming to land only to nestAdult albatrosses feed on fish, crustaceans, and

squid, and often follow ships, feeding on discarded food. Parents feed their young by regurgitating previously digested food into their mouths.

Ingestion of Plastics (cont’d)

Sea TurtlesRapid Increase of plastic ingestion• Since the 1980’s amount has

increased dramatically• Not all victims are discovered• Thus estimates are likely low1

Entanglement In Plastic Debris

Discarded fishing gear – “ghost nets”Curious young seal pups & plastic loops cycle

Plastic ScrubbersSmall fragments of plastic (~0.5 mm) derived

from hand cleaners, cosmetic preparations and airblast cleaning mediaStudies found in New Zealand & Canada using

airblasting, found polyethylene and polystyrene residues

Swirling pools of garbage we consume!

PCB’s DDT and other toxic chemicals cannot dissolve in the water but are absorbed by plastic.

One study reported over 84 pieces of plastic in the stomachs of fish samples from the garbage patch

The same toxins in the plastic are in the fish tissues.

We EAT these fish and their toxins too!!

Prevention so far…US House of Representatives recently passed an

Amendment Act to senate.The National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration must establish a program and assign the United states Coast Guard to assist.The program must identify and determine sources of the

pollution. It must reduce and prevent the marine debris. Also determine its impacts on the marine environment

and navigation safety The program must determine and prevent land-based

sources of pollution all in coordinance with non-federal entities

To prevent expansion and promote reduction of the garbage patch we

must….Responsibility of drifting garbage must be clarifiedCooperation of all nations and determine an

international policyRaise public awareness of the problem on an

international levelEncourage international organizations already in place to

expand efforts as well as hold guilty parties accountable.Promote and support Research and data collection to

prove these methods work and are worth the time and money invested.

Marine Debris is importantThe Pacific Garbage patch has doubled in size in

a decadeIslands of Garbage are appearing all over the

globeThe Pacific Garbage patch is just one of 5 large

gyres that are believed to be collecting large quantities of garbage and human waste products.

We are what we eat … This is becoming a large issue affecting the oceans, wildlife, and US!

ReferencesSamantha Brown

Slides 2-7, 10, 14, 15, 181. Blight L.K., and A.E. Burger. 1997. Occurrence of plastic particles in seabirds

from the eastern North Pacific. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 34 (5): 323-325. 2. http://www.algalita.org/uploads/2012_asia_pacific_expedition_report.pdf

page 93. http://www.algalita.org/pdf/PLASTIC%20DEBRIS%20ENGLISH.pdf4. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. "Marine Debris in the North Pacific." A Summary

of Existing Information and Identification of Data Gaps (2011): 6-7. Web. http://www.epa.gov/region9/marine-debris/pdf/MarineDebris-NPacFinalAprvd.pdf

5. Allsopp, Michelle, Adam Walters, David Santillo, and Paul Johnston. "Green Peace." Plastic Debris in the World’s Oceans (n.d.): 5+. Web. <http://www.greenpeace.org/international/Global/international/planet-2/report/2007/8/plastic_ocean_report.pdf>.

6. Allsopp, Michelle, Adam Walters, David Santillo, and Paul Johnston. "Green Peace." Plastic Debris in the World’s Oceans (n.d.): 5+. Web. <http://www.greenpeace.org/international/Global/international/planet-2/report/2007/8/plastic_ocean_report.pdf>.

7. Gregory M.R. and P.G. Ryan. 1997. Pelagic plastics and other seaborne persistent synthetic debris: a review of Southern Hemisphere perspectives. Prepared for AB 259 (Krekorian), AB 820 (Karnette), and AB 904 (Feuer) by the Algalita Marine Research Foundation

ReferencesCarissa Vuong

Slides 8, 9, 11-13, 16, 17, 19, 20Derraik, Jose GB. "The pollution of the marine

environment by plastic debris: a review." Marine pollution bulletin 44.9 (2002): 842-852.

Silverman, Jacob.  "Why is the world biggest landfill in the Pacific Ocean?"  19 September 2007.  HowStuffWorks.

Barnes, David KA. "Biodiversity: invasions by marine life on plastic debris." Nature 416.6883 (2002): 808-809.

ReferencesAngelica Paulino

Slides 21-24Kazarian, Ursula. "Islands of Garbage Continue

to Grow in Pacific." Sustainable Development Law & Policy 7.1 (2006): 21.

Hoshaw, Lindsey. "Afloat in the ocean, expanding islands of trash." New York Times 9 (2009).