Great Pacific Garbage Patch facts for kids
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a huge area in the central North Pacific Ocean where plastic trash collects. It's often called the Pacific trash vortex. This area is like a giant, swirling collection of plastic pieces, big and small. It stretches across a vast part of the ocean, roughly between 135°W to 155°W longitude and 35°N to 42°N latitude. The trash comes from countries all around the Pacific Rim, including Asia, North America, and South America.
Many people imagine the patch as a solid island of floating garbage. However, it's actually a widely spread-out area. Most of the trash consists of tiny pieces, often smaller than a fingernail, called microplastics. These tiny bits float just below the surface, making it hard to see from satellites or even from boats.
Scientists from the Ocean Cleanup project estimated in 2018 that the patch covered about 1.6 million square kilometers. This is roughly twice the size of Texas! They also found it contained between 45,000 to 129,000 metric tons of plastic. By the end of 2024, The Ocean Cleanup had removed over one million pounds of trash. While tiny microplastics are numerous, about 92% of the patch's total weight comes from larger items. Some of this plastic is over 50 years old. It includes things like plastic lighters, toothbrushes, water bottles, and plastic bags.
This garbage patch is growing quickly. It is thought to have increased ten times every decade since 1945. For every pound of tiny ocean creatures called plankton, there are about six pounds of plastic in the gyre. There's also a similar patch in the Atlantic Ocean, known as the North Atlantic garbage patch.
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How We Discovered the Garbage Patch
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch sits within the North Pacific Gyre. This is one of the five main ocean currents that swirl in a circle.
Scientists first predicted this patch in 1988. Researchers from Alaska studied tiny plastic pieces floating in the North Pacific. They noticed that ocean currents caused a lot of trash to gather in certain areas. Based on their findings, they guessed that similar trash patches would form in other parts of the Pacific. They specifically pointed to the North Pacific Gyre.
In 1997, a sailor named Charles J. Moore sailed through the North Pacific Gyre. He reported seeing a huge area of floating trash. Moore told oceanographer Curtis Ebbesmeyer, who then named it the "Eastern Garbage Patch." This area often appears in news reports as a major example of marine pollution.
Over the years, many groups have explored the patch.
- In 2008, the Algalita Marine Research Foundation launched the JUNK Raft Project. This sailing trip aimed to show how much plastic was in the patch.
- In 2009, Project Kaisei and Ocean Voyages Institute sent ships to study the patch. They wanted to see if it was possible to collect and recycle the plastic.
- The Scripps Institute of Oceanography also sent an expedition in 2009. They studied how plastic affected deep-sea fish like lanternfish.
- Ocean Voyages Institute continued its expeditions in 2010 and 2012. They tested cleanup tools and looked for debris from the Japanese tsunami.
Where Does the Plastic Come From?
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Most of the plastic in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch comes from land. About 80% of ocean plastic pollution starts on land. The other 20% comes from boats and other things at sea.
Studies have shown that a lot of this debris floats eastward from Asian countries. In 2015, a study pointed to China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, and Thailand as major sources. The Ocean Conservancy reported in 2017 that these five countries alone contribute more plastic to the sea than all other countries combined. Groups like Earth Day and World Cleanup Day are working to reduce this land-based trash.
However, a 2018 study found something surprising. Nearly half the weight of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch was made up of old fishing nets. This is because of how ocean currents move and how much fishing happens in the Pacific. A 2022 study also suggested that 75% to 86% of the plastic pollution comes from fishing and farming. These plastics mainly came from Japan, China, South Korea, the US, and Taiwan.
Scientists looked closely at over 6,000 pieces of debris found in the patch. They found that 99% of the hard items were plastic. Many of these items were fishing and aquaculture gear, like nets, fish boxes, and traps. They also found fragments of food, drink, and household items. The languages on some plastic objects showed that Chinese, Japanese, English, and Korean were the most common.
How the Garbage Patch Forms
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch formed slowly over time. It is a result of ocean currents gathering marine pollution. The patch is in a fairly calm area of the North Pacific Ocean. This area is surrounded by the North Pacific Gyre.
The gyre's circular motion pulls in waste from all over the North Pacific. This includes trash from coastal areas off North America and Japan. Once the trash is caught in these currents, winds and surface currents slowly push it towards the center, trapping it.
A 2014 study looked at many ocean locations. It found that discarded fishing gear, like buoys, lines, and nets, made up over 60% of the plastic marine debris by weight. A 2011 report by the EPA explained that most marine debris comes from improper waste disposal on land. This includes littering and illegal dumping. Trash also comes from marinas, ports, rivers, and storm drains. At sea, fishing vessels, oil platforms, and cargo ships also create debris. The trash ranges from long, abandoned fishing nets to tiny plastic pellets used in cosmetics.
Impact on Ocean Life
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch has a big effect on ocean animals. In a 2021 study, researchers found over 40 different animal species living on 90% of the plastic debris they examined.
In 2022, scientists discovered a thriving ecosystem of life on the plastic in the patch. This new community of organisms is called the plastisphere. This discovery suggests that removing the garbage might also remove this new ecosystem.
A 2023 study found that coastal species, like jellyfish and sponges, are now living and reproducing in the open ocean on this plastic. These species are usually found near coastlines in the western Pacific. They are now living alongside open-ocean species on the plastic. Some scientists worry that these "neopelagic communities" could cause problems. Coastal creatures might compete with or even eat the open-ocean species.
How Big is the Patch?
It's hard to say exactly how big the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is. This is because large pieces of trash are uncommon. Most of the debris is made of small plastic particles floating at or just below the surface. This makes it impossible to see from planes or satellites. Instead, scientists estimate its size by taking samples.
Estimates suggest the patch covers about 1.6 million square kilometers. This is roughly twice the size of Texas or three times the size of France. However, these numbers are guesses. It's difficult to compare findings from different areas. Also, there's no clear rule for deciding where "normal" levels of pollution end and "elevated" levels begin.
In August 2009, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Project Kaisei sent a mission to survey the patch. They found plastic debris in every one of 100 samples taken along a 1,700-mile path. They learned that while the patch has some large pieces, it's mostly made of smaller, confetti-like items. These tiny pieces become more concentrated towards the center of the gyre.
In March 2018, the Ocean Cleanup published a report. They had crossed the patch with 30 vessels in 2015, collecting 1.2 million pieces of plastic. In 2016, they flew over the patch with a C-130 Hercules aircraft using special sensors. Their findings showed the patch covers 1.6 million square kilometers. They estimated about 80,000 metric tons of plastic, with 1.8 trillion plastic pieces. About 92% of the weight came from objects larger than 0.5 centimeters.
The National Ocean Service (NOAA) has stated that the term "Great Pacific Garbage Patch" can be misleading. It's not a solid island of trash visible from space. Instead, it's a widely dispersed area of tiny plastic pieces. A 2001 study found that the concentration of plastic particles was seven times greater than that of zooplankton in many areas. By 2012, microplastic concentrations in the gyre had increased by 100 times in forty years.
Efforts to Clean Up the Debris
Many groups are working to clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
Ocean Voyages Institute's Project Kaisei
In 2009, Ocean Voyages Institute removed over 5 metric tons of plastic. This was part of their first Project Kaisei cleanup. They also tested different cleanup tools. In 2019, during a 25-day trip, they set a record. They removed over 40 metric tons of plastic from the ocean. In 2020, they broke their own record twice. They removed 103 metric tons in one 45-day trip and 67 metric tons in another. In 2022, over two summer trips, they removed 148 metric tons of plastic. This included ghostnets (abandoned fishing nets), consumer items, and other plastic debris.
The Ocean Cleanup
On September 9, 2018, the Ocean Cleanup deployed its first collection system. This system was towed from San Francisco to a trial site. The first trial ran for four months. It gave the team important information to improve their designs.
In 2021, The Ocean Cleanup collected 63,182 pounds of plastic using their "System 002." This mission lasted from July to October 2021. In July 2022, they announced a big achievement. They had removed the first 100,000 kilograms of plastic from the patch using "System 002." They then moved to "System 03," which they claim is ten times more effective. In April 2024, they celebrated removing 10 million kilograms of trash. Just seven months later, in November 2024, they had reached 20 million kilograms of trash removed.
Other Cleanup Efforts
The 2012 Algalita/5 Gyres Asia Pacific Expedition started in the Marshall Islands. It investigated the patch and collected samples for several research groups. In 2012, the Sea Education Association also conducted research trips. They performed 118 tows and counted nearly 70,000 pieces of plastic.
See also
In Spanish: Gran mancha de basura en el Pacífico para niños
