The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

We emailed Algalita for some more details and confirmation on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch’s existence and here’s the explanation we received from Marieta Francis, the Director of Operations at the Algalita Marine Research Foundation:

“Thank you for contacting us. Yes, there is an area in the middle of the Pacific Ocean referred to as a “Garbage Patch”. The accumulation of plastic and debris in this area has been researched by our foundation since 1999. You can find information about it on our website - www.algalita.org - both in the Research section and also in the 2008 Gyre Voyage blog on the home page.

It is not something that can be cleaned up. In fact, most of the debris is small and spread out over the surface of the ocean.

We have images of the debris under water, and groups we put together for tagging on the surface. You need to understand that the ocean is a liquid medium, and objects do not pile up on top of it, rather, they become submerged. While we do see buoys, television tubes and soap bottles, etc, they are not piled up in a group for photographing. The majority of the debris consists of small plastic fragments and broken objects just below the surface, which are obscured by surface wavelets when observed from any angle but directly above.

The concept of a “trash island” to describe this phenomenon was originally coined by Pravda and picked up by other European media, who showed an artists drawing of a mountain of trash. This is not an accurate depiction. The enormous accumulation zones for plastic debris are better described as “trash vortexes,” and except for fishing buoys do not appear above the ocean surface. They are also referred to as the “Eastern and Western Garbage Patches,” although we prefer vortex because the word “patch” does not do justice to their more or less million square mile size.”

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Wow. Let us repeat that very last little bit: “More or less million square mile size.”

And regarding the official word on cleanup: “It is not something that can be cleaned up” - we’re still not convinced it can’t be cleaned up. With enough money and motivation, there has to be a solution out there and we will do our best to help find it.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is really, truly unconscionable.

Whether it actually exists is largely questioned by some, while others feel its existence is indisputable. Either way, it blows our minds that nearly every single article we’ve come across in our research states that “There’s nothing we can do about it now…” (Eriksen, October 19, 2007). What kind of asinine, uncaring and lazy response is this?

In case you haven’t yet heard of this man-made atrocity, there is many claim, a collection of human waste (mostly plastic trash), that has piled up into a floating island (some say two islands), twice the size of Texas, about 1,000 miles west of San Francisco. What’s even more astounding to us, is that this has been known to exist for the better part of half a century now (though it was until the last few decades that it’s neared its current size).

An article from the San Francisco Chronicle states:

“Ocean current patterns may keep the flotsam stashed in a part of the world few will ever see, but the majority of its content is generated onshore, according to a report from Greenpeace last year titled “Plastic Debris in the World’s Oceans.”

This is just totally unacceptable.

We can no longer, in good conscience, continue to write off this horrendous creation and let it continue unabated. To that end, we have begun this website with the hope to evolve into the official, leading source of information, activism and action against this atrocity. In the coming months, we plan to raise funds to start dismantling this floating island of trash, generate significant publicity, donate hundreds if not thousands of hours and dollars, to turn the tides on this.

The GreatPacificGarbagePatch.com will serve as our central focus on what we hope grows into a massive wide effort to eradicate this abysmal by-product of our global industries. We hope that you will join us in our efforts, in whatever way you can.

Stay tuned for more info including a donation system and much more.