The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a massive area of marine plastic pollution located between Hawaii and California. It contains over 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic debris, weighing an estimated 80,000 tons. The patch has accumulated due to ocean currents forming a gyre that circulates the trash. Plastic poses threats to wildlife such as seabirds, fish, sea turtles, and marine mammals that can ingest or become entangled in it. Over time, plastic breaks down into smaller pieces but does not fully degrade. Cleanup efforts are ongoing but the patch remains a serious environmental problem.

1. Kelsie Bassett
Francisco Aranda
Abel Escobedo

2. What Is It?
 A gyre of marine litter in the Central North Pacific
Ocean. The patch extends over an intermediate area,
with estimates ranging very widely depending on the
degree of plastic concentration used to define the
affected area. This patch has extremely high
concentrations of plastic, sludge and other debris.
 A gyre is any large system of rotating ocean currents,
involved with large wind movements.

3. Where is it happening
 Deals with pollution in the Pacific Ocean.
 Waste from Japan and California end up in the ocean
and the island of Hawaii are affected by the pollution
in the water
 The National Oceanic and Atmosphere
Administration (NOAA) are involved in helping
animals and cleaning up the Ocean.

4. The Convergence Zone

5. The Trash Talk
 The ocean hosts 46,000 thousands pieces of floating
plastic (6 pounds of marine litter for every pound of
plankton)
 More than 200 billion pounds of plastic are produced
in the world and 10% of it ends up in the ocean.
 100,000 marine mammals are victimized by the
pollution
 The gyre effect causes trash to circulate and land onto
an island which takes about 6 years to reach.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoMF55QoIPk

6. Affects
 The increase of acidification in the water slows down
growth of coral reefs.
 Coral reefs: provide shoreline protection, fisheries,
yielp compounds that are important for medicine.
 Shelter fish provide food, protect coastal dwellings
(cures cancer, HIV, Cardio Diseases)
 Endangered monk seals, sea turtles

7. Where your trash goes!

10. Midway Island
 Location: Northwest of Hawaii (28.12 N. -177.22 W)
 Accessibility for airplanes and Large vessels
 Housing, laboratories, and food services
 Large habitat for Albatrosses
 More than 20 species of seabirds; total of 2 million
birds
 57 tons of new debris enters the island (1996 – 2008 a
total of 610 tons)

11. What Can We Do???
 Clean up after ourselves and others. Set an example of
how we as humans, should treat the earth.
 Have trash cans available throughout main streets.
 Increase filtration in sewage systems.
 Strict regulations for polluters ($1000 fine) and 24
hours of community service.

12. Work cited
 http://www.fws.gov/midway/ (Last updated: February
8, 2012)
 http://marinedebris.noaa.gov/info/patch.html
(Revised August 04, 2011 )
 http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=11
5481 (Last Updated: August 27, 2009)
 http://sio.ucsd.edu/Expeditions/Seaplex/ (Last
Updated: August 21, 2009)
 http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/garbagepatch.html
(Revised November 17, 2011)