Location

Ocean Location

Commonly known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch,  the Western and Eastern garbage patches float within the North Pacific Gyre. The Western garbage patch is located East of Japan and West of Hawaii. The Eastern garbage patch is located between Hawaii and California. These two garbage patches are linked by a 6,000 mile long current known as the Subtropical Convergence Zone.  About 10% of the 200 billion pounds of trash produced by humans annually,  lands in the ocean, and eventually accumulates in these garbage patches. In addition, over 80% of ocean trash is estimated to originate on land. It is estimated that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is approximately two times the size of Texas: about 537, 640 square miles. Most of the garbage accumulated in these areas consists of plastic because plastic does not biodegrade. Instead, plastic tends to photo degrade, meaning that sunlight slowly breaks down the plastic into smaller compounds.

Plastic Accumulated on Coastlines

However, photodegradation creates small bits of plastic known as mermaid tears and nurdles. Because these pieces of plastic are smaller, birds and marine animals can easily eat them. Filter feeders and albatross populations eat whatever they can and wherever they can. Many of these animals ingest these harmful substances unconsciously, and many of them die because of it. More than 1 million birds and marine animals die annually due to plastic and debris consumption. For example, the Albatross population in Midway Island gives birth to 500,000 chicks annually. However, over 200,000 of these chicks die, and their deaths are partially attributed to the polluted  habitats and consumption of trash. This issue has, and continues to affect marine life, as well as humans.

Birds Affected by Consumption of Harmful Substances

For one, tourism is affected, as coastlines are lined with increasing amounts of trash, degrading the nice ocean views. But most importantly, human health is at risk because poisonous substances or toxins can enter the food chain. The consumption of seafood can become a health problem simply because we are unaware of the harmful substances that marine animals have consumed, and that we will potentially consume.