Permanent 'Trash Islands' Are Forming In The Ocean

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http://www.businessinsider.com/permanent-trash-islands-forming-in-the-ocean-2014-7


About 15 years after first discovering the great Pacific garbage patch, Capt. Charles Moore returned in 2014 and discovered that semi-permanent islands made of ropes, buoys and other detritus were forming in the region.

After returning from the Transpacific Yacht Race — an annual sailboat race from Los Angeles to Honolulu — in 1997, Capt. Charles Moore was guiding his boat through the doldrums when he noticed some plastic debris floating in the water.

Though it didn't seem like an overwhelming amount of trash, he recorded log entries every hour, noting the bits of debris in the water. Toothbrushes. Bottle caps. Eel traps. Floating nets. Soap bottles. On and on it went.

Given that he was in the Pacific Ocean, halfway between California and Hawaii, with nothing nearby, it was odd to find such a long stretch of trash, Moore said.

"It's the most remote part of our world," Moore told Live Science.



Read more: http://www.livescience.com/46871-plastic-islands-forming-pacific.html#ixzz38CAQ91Tb