Scientists Find Vast Habitat in Pacific Garbage Patch

The BBC is reporting that scientists have discovered marine animals living on plastic debris in an area of the open ocean dubbed “the Great Pacific Garbage Patch”. Many of the creatures are coastal species, living miles from their usual habitats, … Continue reading

Cargo Ship Kwai Collects 40 Tons of Ghost Nets from Pacific Garbage Patch

The sailing auxiliary cargo ship Kwai arrived in Hawaii recently.  The ship usually sails a regular route carrying cargo and passengers between Hawaii and the islands of Kiritimati (Christmas Island), Tabuaeran (Fanning) and Teraina, (Washington Island) as well as the … Continue reading

The Indian Ocean Gyre, the Garbage Patch and Malaysia Air Flight 370

A wing flap from Malaysia Air Flight 370, which disappeared in 2014, has washed up on the island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa, roughly 2,300 miles away from where most believe that the plane crashed, on … Continue reading

Sign of the Times — Sperm Whale Killed by Plastic Garbage

You might call it the greenhouse effect, though it is not directly related to climate change. A dead sperm whale which washed ashore last year in Andalusia, in southern Spain, was found to have died from ingesting plastic sheets used in the construction of greenhouses in that region.  The whale … Continue reading

Sea Education Association Brigantine Robert C. Seamans on Pacific ‘Garbage Patch’ Cruise

The brigantine Robert C. Seamans, owned and operated by Sea Education Association (SEA) is off on a 37 day  Plastics at SEA: North Pacific Expedition 2012 into the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” to examine the effects of plastic debris, including debris generated by … Continue reading

Ocean garbage patches are not growing, so where is all that plastic going?

We have previously posted about the plastic “garbage patches” in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans – great current vortexes where floating plastic trash has accumulated.   As reported in Scientific American scientists studying the garbage patches have noticed that despite … Continue reading

Update: Deadly Conception Dive Boat Fire, Where 34 Died, Started in Trash Can According to AFT

The LA Times reports that the deadly fire that broke out four years ago aboard the Conception dive boat, killing 34 people, started in a plastic trash can on the main deck, a confidential report reviewed by The Times shows. Investigators … Continue reading

Trawling For Plastic — Ocean Cleanup Boom Yields Meager Results

The Ocean Cleanup‘s latest attempt to clean plastic from the Northern Pacific has proven to be unimpressive.  After two offshore supply vessels, donated by Maersk, towed a 520-meter wide boom for 120 hours, they succeeded in collecting around 8 tonnes … Continue reading

Sailing Cargo Ship Kwai Hauls a Record 170 Tons of Plastic & Ghost Nets From Pacific

In June of last year, we posted about the sailing cargo ship Kwai that had collected more than 40 tons of plastic waste and “ghost nets” from the Pacific Garbage Patch. Ghost nets are abandoned fishing gear that continues to … Continue reading

Eurythenes plasticus — Newly Discovered Deep Sea Amphipod Named After Plastic In Its Guts

British researchers have discovered a new species of amphipod. The team from England’s Newcastle University, led by Dr Alan Jamieson, found the shrimp-like crustacean in the Pacific Ocean’s Mariana Trench between Japan and the Philippines and below the Great Pacific … Continue reading

Ocean Plastic Innovation Challenge — Save the Ocean! Win Valuable Prizes! (Really)

Each year more than 9 million tons of plastic makes its way into the oceans of the world. Plastic debris in ocean garbage patches is growing exponentially. By one estimate, there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean … Continue reading