Esa Jessop

ENV340A
Research Paper Rough Draft Revision
Pacific Trash Vortex
The Pacific trash vortex is an area of the Pacific Ocean between the western coast of the
continental United States of America and the main island of Japan that is known to collect a
large amount of floating plastic from the surrounding waters. This section of the North Pacific
Ocean containing the garbage patch is often referred to as the North Pacific Gyre (a gyre being a
circular ocean current) (Merriam-Webster 2014) The gyre itself is in the neighborhood of ten-
million square miles, with waste being present in a significant portion of that. The refuse is
brought together by ocean currents and winds from around the Pacific Rim, where it can accrue
towards the center of these currents (Fig 1). The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is not always an
easily visible, floating entity in the Pacific Ocean; it is often more similar to high concentrations
of miniscule plastics in water columns, much of which is below the surface. It has been difficult
to accurately judge the precise size and contents of this phenomenon, due to its ever changing
nature, however, a 1997 study estimated it to be 100-million tons, and it has only been increasing
since.







Figure 1. This graphic illustrates the size of the North Pacific Gyre and the surrounding currents.
Included within the illustration are the western garbage patch to the East of Japan and China, the
subtropical convergence zone to the north-west of Hawaii, and the eastern garbage patch off the
western coast of California and Mexico
http://westcoastoceans.wordpress.com/2014/02/11/seas-of-trash-the-great-pacific-garbage-patch/
It is impossible to pinpoint the exact origin of all of the plastic waste filling the North
Pacific Ocean, but it is certain that the debris comes from both land and ocean based sources. In
a shore-based study, it was estimated that nearly 80% of all refuse material that washes ashore
can trace its origins to the land, often being taken to sea via storm drains in coastal regions
(Cummins 2008). That is opposed to the debris found in the North Pacific Gyre, which mainly
consists of plastic pieces used in the fishing industry, many of which will continue to break down
into smaller pieces without entirely decomposing for hundreds of years (Fig 2). Researchers
state that a single one-liter bottle has the potential to create enough particles of plastic to have
one piece on each square mile of coastal beaches worldwide (Ebbesmeyer 2009). According to
the EPA, in 2012 the United States alone produced 251 million tons of trash, with 12.7% of that
being plastics (EPA 2014). This means that in the year of 2012, America alone produced 31.877
million tons (6.4x10
9
pounds) of plastic waste. It is easy to see how a 100-fold increase in
anthropogenic plastic refuse within the oceans over the last few years is plausible when
reviewing these numbers.








Figure 2. This graphic illustrates the estimated rate of decomposition of several articles commonly found
within our oceans. The plastics generally have long decomposition rates ranging from 10-20 years for a
plastic grocery bag to 450 years for a plastic bottle.
http://abbeydufoe.com/tag/great-pacific-garbage-patch/
The greatly increased concentrations of plastic trash have numerous effects on the
wildlife that inhabit the areas of the North Pacific Ocean. The waste particles can range in size
anywhere between the prey of a zooplankton to that of large aquatic mammals, such as whales
and dolphins. The plastics are not only bio accumulating up the food web from the lower levels,
they are also being brought directly into the apex predator levels by way of direct ingestion. This
has quite adverse effects on populations due to the plastic being hydrophobic and also very
capable in absorbing any oils (Moore 2009). After ingesting enough of these waste plastics, an
animals digestive tract can become obstructed, eventually leading to death. Plastic ingestion is
not all that uncommon either. The 2009 SEAPLEX (Scripps Environmental Accumulation of
Plastic Expedition) research group noted that 9% of fish they collected during their time in the
North Pacific Gyre held plastic refuse within their stomachs (Goldstein et. Al 2012). Doing a few
calculations from that point, SEAPLEX estimated the fish within the North Pacific Gyre
consume between 12,000 and 24,000 tons of plastic waste per year.







Figure 3. This series of photographs above shows the stomach contents of two fish from the North
Pacific Ocean. In both fish there was a significant amount of plastic waste, nearly equal to the amount
of actual food consumed. The record holder was a fish whose stomach contained 84 fragments of
plastic
http://normalbiology.blogspot.com/2012/01/marine-debris-one-huge-problem.html
With the worlds plastic generation and usage at an all-time high, it seems pertinent to the
health of our ecosystems to begin cleaning up the oceans that have been filling up with plastic
debris. With concentrations estimated only as low as 100,000 plastic pieces per square mile
(Dumas 2007), steps have already been taken in the right direction as far as culling the amount of
human generated wastes reaching the Pacific Ocean. California has been in the works of
implementing their nurdle law, (Fig 4) which is aimed at the prevention of letting these
miniature plastic pellets enter sewer systems and ultimately find their way into the Pacific
Ocean. The state has been putting into practice such strategies as: auditing plastic production
facilities, increasing employee awareness and accountability, and inspections, among other
practices (Coulter 2010). Another prevention practice that has been proposed is the switch away
from plastic products in the fishing industry. A large amount of the plastic waste is from fishing
nets, buoys, and fishing lines which are abandoned by both commercial and sport vessels.
Figure 4. This image shows the miniscule plastic pellets known as nurdles that are causing problems in
the oceans where they have been released. 60 million tons of these are produced annually in the US, the
largest samples being merely 5mm in diameter (Coulter 2010)
http://kimdewolff.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/img_5046.jpg
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a pertinent issue that has the potential to affect our
daily lives more that we realize, whether it be affecting the Pacific fishing industry, world
economies, public health, ecosystems, and so on. With the production and usage of plastic
materials at an all-time high and the massive amounts of waste generated worldwide, it will be
difficult to see any significant change in the Pacific Trash Vortex any time soon. In this situation
awareness is key, and to start to make the changes we need for a positive future, the issues
present here must be brought into the limelight of public attention. The topic most pertinent here
is waste management. To prevent waste from reaching the oceans, better practices must be set in
place to control where our refuse goes and to keep it minimalized through better practices of
recycling. It is only after we get this under control that we can begin to clean up the mess
already present within the North Pacific Gyre.

References
Coulter J. 2010. A sea change to change the sea: stopping the spread of the Pacific garbage patch with
small-scale environmental legislation. William & Mary Law Review Vol. 51 Issue 5, p1959-1995. 35p
Cummins A. 2008. Sea of garbage. New Internationalist Issue 415, p14-16. 3p
Dumas D. 2007. Landfill-on-sea. Ecologist Vol. 37 Issue 7, p34-37
Goldstein M, Rosenberg M, Cheng EL. 2012. Plastic trash altering ocean habitats. Scripps Institution of
Oceanography
Goldstein M, Titmus A, Ford M. 2013. Scales of spatial heterogeneity of plastic marine debris in the
northeast Pacific Ocean. PLoS ONE Vol. 8 Issue 11, p1-11. 11p.
Greenberg N. 2009. Captain Charles Moore . Earth Island Journal Vol. 24 Issue 1, p47-50. 4p
Kaiser J. 2010. The dirt on ocean garbage patches. Science. Vol. 328 Issue 5985, p1506-1506. 1p
MacIver C. 2009. The ''great Pacific garbage patch: responsibility and obligation in an uncertain world.
Conference Papers -- Western Political Science Association
Marshall M. 2012. Insects thrive on Pacific plastic patch. New Scientist Vol. 214 Issue 2864, p17-17.
1/5p.
Young L, Vanderlip C, Duffy D, Afanasyev V, Shaffer S. 2009. Bringing home the trash: do colony-based
differences in foraging distribution lead to increased plastic ingestion in laysan albatrosses? . PLoS ONE
Vol. 4 Issue 10, p1-9. 9p
Additional References
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gyre
http://www.epa.gov/waste/nonhaz/municipal/