Atlantic Ocean Garbage Patch Discovered

You may have heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which is the collective term for the Western Pacific Garbage Patch between Japan and Hawaii as well as the Eastern Pacific Garbage Patch between Hawaii and California. As the term suggest, it is the largest landfill in the world but it is not on land – it floats in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

And if the Great Pacific Garbage Patch wasn’t enough bad news in a sea of earthquakes, plane crashes, and oil spills, the Great Atlantic Garbage Patch has just been recently discovered. Just like its Pacific counterpart, it is a floating landfill of human garbage, mainly plastic products.

Its specific location has been pinpointed as the area between Bermuda and the Azores Islands, both of which are in the area known as the Sargasso Sea. If the name sounds familiar, it is because the Sargasso Sea is where the legend of the Bermuda Triangle takes place. So now, not only is the Sargasso Sea the graveyard for lost ships and airplanes, it is also the graveyard of our garbage. Call it ironic, indeed.

The Great Atlantic Garbage Patch was discovered by Anna Cummins and Markus Eriksen during their trip to the Sargasso Sea. The duo took samples of the water from the seabed every 100 miles to determine the sea’s composition. Sadly, each time their nets came up, large plastic hauls were present.

Admittedly, many of the plastic materials were hardly the size of pencil erasers. But one must remember that even a small piece of plastic lodged in the digestive system of a small sea animal or a bird can mean the difference between life and death for that creature.

Indeed, this new oceanic garbage patch presents numerous hazards to marine life, fishing activities and tourism in and around the areas concerned. Lest we think that only the Bermudas and the Azores Islands will be affected, think again. Many of the plastic trash in the Great Atlantic Garbage Patch will find their way into distant shores, thus, wreaking more havoc along the way.

So, just how destructive is plastic to marine life and everything that depends on it like the creatures of the land and air that feed on them? Consider these facts: In some areas of the ocean, the ratio between plastic and plankton in terms of weight is 6 is to 1. Of the 200 billion pounds of plastic produced each year, approximately 10 percent will end up in the oceans, of which 70 percent will float down to the ocean floor and 30 percent will form the visible garbage patch that we see on the Atlantic and Pacific oceans today.

As even a fifth grader can imagine, marine wildlife is killed so much so that 100,000 of these creatures, big and small, will die as a result of the oceanic garbage patches. But that damage does not stop there. Plastic debris damage boat and submarine equipment; bury beaches in mountains of trash; and affect the fishing catch of the commercial fishermen.

What can you do to help lessen the trash on these great oceanic garbage patches?
Well, stop drinking bottled water, for starters. And then, you can also organize a recycling drive in your neighborhood. Every little bit of plastic disposed the right way will have an impact on the environment.