#Garbage island Patch#

It is important to stop plastic leakage into the environment at source. Europe and the United States of America have used huge amounts of plastic for years, while regions such as South America and Asia are now catching up.Īccording to the researchers, the solution lies in reducing the amount of plastic that people produce, use and dispose of around the world. The difference in the amount of plastic used between the northern and southern hemispheres could explain this. However, Charles Moore expects that the amount of plastic there is about 10 years behind the northern gyre.Ĭlick here for our file on Gyres and Hotspots The ratio of plastic to plankton is not yet known for the South Pacific Garbage Patch. In 2009, Algalita recorded six kilos of plastic for every kilo of plankton in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Most of the plastic consists of microplastics such as microbeads, microfibers from clothing, and small fragments from weathered large pieces of plastic.

#Garbage island Patch#

The South Pacific Garbage Patch covers an area of at least one million square kilometers, which is larger than the surface area of Germany and France combined. Given the vast amount of plastic that is accumulating there, it is called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.Īlgalita gave the name the South Pacific Garbage Patch to the high concentration of plastic that it recently discovered in the South Pacific Ocean.

Since then he has done thorough research into the plastic soup in the North Pacific Gyre, a rotating ocean current in the North Pacific Ocean. The expedition was led by Captain Charles Moore, who discovered the plastic soup in 1997 and gave it its name. The organisation found a worrying amount of plastic there. The Algalita Marine Research and Education Foundation has returned from an expedition to the South Pacific Gyre in the South Pacific Ocean.