S

Trash Island

Samantha Kalb

Where is it and how did it get there?Also known as the Great pacific Garbage Patch, it is located around 135°W to 150°W and 35°N to 45°N.

The Patch is exactly as it sounds, a huge pile of trash floating in the Pacific Ocean. Mostly plastic bottles, bags, lids, nets, and much more.

What happens to the animals?Animals are in danger of getting caught in six-pack rings, eating balloons, being poisoned, or cause genetic problems.

If barnacles attach onto plastics in the ocean they may float to an area they are not native to and create problems for the species living there.

North Pacific Gyre

Why doesn’t anyone clean it up?Captain Charles Moore said cleaning the patch "would bankrupt any country and kill wildlife in the nets as it went.”

Along with clean up being difficult, the patch is also in international waters, so no one will pay to help.

What can we do?Recycle!

Sign on one of the many petition sites!

Donate!

Through your garbage away!