I would imagine this plastic kind of looks like food. TROY KITCH: So we have these vast regions in the ocean where the water column looks like a peppery soup because of all these small bits and pieces of plastic. They just break down over and over and over again until they become smaller and smaller from sunlight and other environmental factors waves, big storms, those kind of things. So, there are teeny, tiny micro plastics out there that were either manufactured to be small - for example, the microbeads in face wash can be plastic there are also little, tiny plastic pellets that we sometimes call ‘'nurdles' that are used to make larger items but then there are also tiny plastics that are shards of larger items. why it's so small?ĭIANNA PARKER: There are many different kinds of plastics out in the ocean and they come from a number of different sources. Can you talk a little more about the plastic debris in the ocean. But you're saying that most of the plastic is so small that's it's hard or impossible to see. TROY KITCH: I would think that most of the plastics that ends up in the ocean are bigger pieces. These are tiny plastics that you might not even see if you sailed through the middle of the garbage patch, they're so small and mixed throughout the water column. TROY KITCH: A peppery soup? Could you explain that again?ĭIANNA PARKER: Well, imagine tiny, tiny micro plastics just swirling around, mixing in the water column from waves and wind, that's always moving and changing with the currents. What we know about this area is that it's made up of tiny micro plastics, almost akin to a peppery soup, with scattered larger items, fishing gear, those kind of items swirling around.
The one that we know the most about is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch which lies in an area between Hawaii and California. So there are garbage patches of all different sizes and shapes and compositions. These are areas where debris naturally accumulates. TROY KITCH: I noticed that you said garbage patch 'areas.' So the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is only one area in the ocean where marine debris concentrates?ĭIANNA PARKER: There are garbage patches all over the world. Let's start with the obvious question: what are we talking about when we say 'garbage patch?'ĭIANNA PARKER: A lot of people hear the word patch and they immediately think of almost like a blanket of trash that can easily be scooped up, but actually these areas are always moving and changing with the currents, and it's mostly these tiny plastics that you can't immediately see with the naked eye. TROY KITCH: Dianna, welcome and thanks for joining us.
How are patches like this forming in our oceans? What can we do about it? For the answer, let’s take a look back on a conversation between Troy Kitch and Dianna Parker as they discussed the details the most well-known garbage patch in the Pacific, of what a garbage patch is and isn't, and what we can do about this ocean-sized problem. As with the North Pacific Garbage Patch, plastic can circulate in this part of the ocean for years, posing health risks to marine animals, fish, and seabirds. In the last five years, researchers have discovered two more areas where a “soup” of concentrated marine debris collects – one in the South Pacific Ocean, the other in the North Atlantic. While this is certainly the most talked about garbage patch, it is not the only garbage patch in the ocean. The patch is an area of concentrated (and mostly plastic) marine debris. The most famous example of a gyre’s tendency to take out our trash is the Great Pacific Garbage patch located in the North Pacific Gyre. While they circulate ocean waters, they’re also drawing in the pollution that we release in coastal areas, known as marine debris. The big five help drive the so-called oceanic conveyor belt that helps circulate ocean waters around the globe. There are five gyres to be exact-the North Atlantic Gyre, the South Atlantic Gyre, the North Pacific Gyre, the South Pacific Gyre, and the Indian Ocean Gyre-that have a significant impact on the ocean. Gyres are large systems of circulating ocean currents, kind of like slow-moving whirlpools. Before we dive in to that specific subject, let’s take a step back to discuss the areas of the ocean where trash seems to collect. In this episode we’re focusing on something that you’ve likely at least heard a little bit about in the last few years – Garbage Patches. HOST: You’re listening to the NOAA Ocean podcast… I’m Megan Forbes.