The Pacific Trash Vortex

Cady Thomas

Independent Study
Mrs. Graves
June 15, 2015

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WHAT I KNOW/ WHAT I WANT TO KNOW

John F. Kennedy once said, We are tied to the oceans. And when we go back to the sea,
whether it is to sail or to watch - we are going back from whence we came. This quote and so
many others have interested me from a young age. The oceans are teaming with life and the
oceans are so important to all life on Earth. The oceans account for the majority of the oxygen
on Earth and they do very complex things like regulate the temperature of the whole planet.
Living near the beach Ive always been connected to the oceans and Ive always been curious
about problems in them. Growing up you hear things like, Dont litter because it may end up in
the ocean, or Plastic bags look like jelly fish to sea turtles and when they eat them they could
die, and while those things may be true, I never realized how the our actions and the oceans
were so interconnected. I knew trash was a big problem and one that humans caused, but I didnt
know much more than that about trash in the vast open ocean.
When we started doing some digging I had no idea where to start but I had always loved
the oceans and so that is where I started my journey. It wasnt until a few weeks later I came
across my topic for the first time, however I had no idea that it was to become something I am
passionate about. My dad loves to watch documentaries, and one day he watched one about
plastics in the ocean, more specifically about the Pacific Trash Vortex. And of course, he told me
about it since I am the tree hugger in the family. It was appalling to me and I hated the idea of
anything so harmful in the oceans. I remember thinking that the human race was single handedly
ruining one of the most amazing places that exists. A few days later the topic came up in a
conversation between him and I again and I really wanted to do more digging into this topic. I
wanted to know more about these garbage patches in all of the oceans and really what impact
they were having for future generations. So I decided to focus on the Pacific Trash Vortex and

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how is the Pacific Trash Vortex an indicator of environmental health? I looked at both the
aspects of how it affects people and animals, as well as future effects and what is currently being
done to stop or slow down the plastic in the oceans problem. This is an extremely important
topic and one not many people are aware of or if they are aware they have misconceptions about
the problem. When these garbage patches were first described in the media they were said to be
islands of trash the size of Texas. Even though this was an extreme misconception it still gave the
initial push to really start research into this global issue. The oceans give us so much and if we
dont take care of them and reduce the footprint humanity has left on the world the consequences
could be catastrophic.
THE SEARCH
I found this topic very easy to research. It is currently a hot topic among scientists and the
public alike. First, I Google searched what the Pacific Trash Vortex was. There were at least
twenty or so reliable sources. I read almost all of them. These were very helpful in giving me a
basic knowledge of what I was getting myself into in the coming months. They were very basic
articles from science websites and news sources. The ones from news publishers were more
dramatic than and not quite as factual as some of the scientific sources, but they gave me an idea
as to what people with not much scientific background saw as the most important things about
this issue. That was very useful to me.
Once I had my basic understanding of my topic, I started digging into my sub-questions.
One was exploring who the trash vortexes effect, both human and animals. And the other
subtopic was pollution overall in the oceans, which was a very hard topic to fit into a subtopic.
These were very informative in helping me answer my big question however; more research into
a few of the topics could have been done.

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National Geographic was my most used source since it was very supportive in my
research. There were many pages on my topic and it explained the information in an easy to
understand manner. Also, I looked at a lot of websites from ocean conservation organizations that
are dedicated to informing the public on the oceans. One of the most helpful was the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
I interviewed two experts on my topic. The first was Mrs. Leslie Samuelson. I emailed
her and got a date for an interview right away. On May 27 I went to her class and we had a long
discussion about plastics in the oceans. She is my oceanography teacher and in 2010 she had the
honor of going on the North Atlantic expedition of plastics at sea. She went to the North Atlantic
garbage patch in the Sargasso Sea with a group from Woods Hole, Massachusetts called Sea
Education Association (SEA). On the expedition they sampled water every 30-60 minutes using
a Neuston net. The net was in the water for 30 minutes the net was then hauled back onto the
boat and the contents were examined and recorded. I learned so much from Mrs. Samuelson she
shared a lot with me about animals she saw as well as the scientific work that came with working
in the field1. The other expert I talked to was Mr. Mark Swingle, the Director of Research and
Conservation at the Virginia Aquarium. He shared with me many of the different programs the
aquarium has in place to educate people on pollution in the ocean as well as how the aquarium
decreases its output of pollutants. Some of these programs included heavily recycling, energy
conservation and composting organic matter. Mr. Swingles information gave me hope for this
problem because I got to hear about easy changes the world can make to be more
environmentally friendly. Also, he told me about how the Virginia Aquarium tracks if they are
making any progress with their programs, through different measurements they take of the
building.

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During my research, I wrote up a blog post to my corresponding sub questions. I had six
questions in total and one entry about my first interview. This was done in order to completely
cover all aspects of my topic in the time of my research. I now have a really good understanding
of the Pacific Trash Vortex and plastics in the oceans.
THE RESULTS
Earth is 73% water. That is of the planet. The human race produces the weight of every
man, woman and child in plastics every single year. Millions of plastic pieces end up in the
oceans and they cause huge problems. These problems are so monumental that if left unchecked
could have catastrophic effects on us and every living thing on Earth2.
The oceans are covered in currents that connect all of the waters in the ocean. There are
several garbage patches, or trash vortexes, all around the world. The largest is the one in the
Pacific. All of these large areas of plastic soup are connected by the North Pacific Subtropical
Convergence Zone. A convergence zone is where warm water from the south pacific meets up
with Arctic water. This current goes most of circumference of the globe, turning into the Atlantic
subtropical convergence zone once when it reaches that ocean. This belt of ocean currents acts as
a road that carries marine debris all over the world. Once the garbage is carried along the North
Pacific Subtropical Convergence Zone, it is deposited into the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre,
where it stays trapped in a current it cannot escape. A gyre is a system of ocean currents that
forms a circular pattern. It is caused by earths wind patterns and the rotation of the earth. The
center of the gyre is calm and large amounts of trash accumulate here3. The North Pacific
Subtropical gyre is located between Hawaii and Japan. A common misconception is that you can
see the trash floating on top of the water, like an island of trash that stretches on for miles. This is
not true most of the plastics in the ocean; you cant see it if you are just looking down into the

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water. Most of these trash pieces are micro-plastics, plastics between 0.3 and 5 millimeters in
size. These plastics float in the water column and make the water appear cloudy. When plastics
break down, they dont go away. Instead, they only get smaller and smaller, and as the get
smaller they leave chemical residues in the water in the food chain. This is a serious problem.
Currently the animals of our oceans are most directly impacted by this floating trash.
Many species mistakes this trash for food and as a result most end up sick or dead. Their bodies
cannot break down or receive nutrients from these plastics. The Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta
caretta) commonly mistakes plastic bags for jelly fish because of their transparent look and
because they float in the current similar to jellyfish. Birds, like the Laysan Albatross
(Phoebastria immutabilis) mistake these plastics for fish eggs. On the Midway Atoll these
animals feed the plastics to their chicks and many of them die. Marine mammals are also at a
great risk when it comes to the trash. Many species are found dead tangled in old nets and other
things that may entrap them. These marine mammals die of things like disease, starvation, and
even drowning. This is called ghost fishing. Perhaps the most frightening event of creatures
threatened by all this garbage is the phytoplankton and algae4. These photo autotrophs make the
majority of the oxygen on our planet and are the first level in the marine food web. The plastics
in the water prevent sunlight from penetrating the water column. These simple organisms require
lots of sunlight to be able to photosynthesize. If their numbers decline, we could lose almost all
of the oxygen in our atmosphere and many species would become extinct in the process. If the
phytoplankton is endangered, animals, including ourselves, could die either because of this lack
of oxygen or lack of food source as well as a polluted food.
Humans are impacted by this Trash Vortex now and we dont even realize it. We eat
contaminated fish and have beautiful beaches covered in litter. This, however, doesnt seem to

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bother some individuals, but the effects of long term plastic pollution could be detrimental. The
long term effects of humans continual waste in the oceans have far reaching effects, all the way
from health problems to increased taxes5. There are harmful toxins in the plastic that we keep
dumping in our oceans and these toxins are found in increasing levels as you move up the food
chain. If the small fish ingest ten harmful toxins and then a larger predator eats ten fish and then
we eat that fish, thats the possibility of consuming up to a hundred different harmful toxins.
And we are at the top of the food chain there is no telling how high the number of toxins really is
when we consume seafood. As we eat more seafood, these chemicals that are in our food source
now enter our bodies and many of these harmful chemicals don't ever go away. Scientists are
currently studying the effects of these chemicals on our bodies and there results don't look so
good. It is estimated that everyone carries at least 700 "containments" from plastics in their body
at any one given time. The chemical BPA (bisphenol A), a common chemical in plastics is a
carcinogen, meaning it causes cancer. We are polluting our planet with unnatural chemicals that
have the potential to cause cancer not only in us but in other species as well6. Plastics stay
around for a long time so generations upon generations are going to be dealing with this
monumental issue. Not only are plastics causing problems in the ocean but they are ruining a lot
of our fresh water. By polluting our fresh water, we ruin our drinking supply and most of this
trash goes to the oceans because our waterways are all globally connected. Another pressing
issue with these plastics being around forever is that we people have to deal with them. Trash
everywhere means that people have to clean it up especially the trash on land. Tax payers money
is used to hire people to clean beaches and clean storm drains. With the rising trash problem this
is expected to get worse and could cost people even more money5. These problems could all be
avoided if we were smarter about our plastic usage and if there was more awareness about the

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problem. If people get educated about this issue now we may be able to soften the blow of these
long term effects.
Many people throughout the world are beginning to see what a massive problem this is.
The world was really made aware of these garbage patches in the beginning of 2014 when our
oceans caught the eye of many celebrities. Among them, was Pharrell Williams 7-8. He was
captivated by the oceans and wanted to give back. He paired up with the organization Bionic
Yarn9. This amazing invention takes plastics from our oceans, mainly bottles, and turns them into
durable textiles. It is the definition of reusing! Bionic Yarn breaks down the bottles into smaller
pieces and then melts them. Once the plastics have been melted, they are spun into fibers and
then these fibers are covered with a substance that textiles are made out of, cotton is preferred.
After this whole process is completed the yarn is ready to be made into clothes. Pharrell
Williams saw this and knew he had to get involved he partnered with bionic yarn and then
brought the fashion company G-Star onto the scene. This fashion marketing team brought the
clothes to life and put them in stores2,8. All of these people partnered with Parley an organization
that brings together innovators and creative thinkers to better our oceans they provide funding
form many projects to help better our oceans10. Along with famous people getting involved, the
trash vortex has caught the eye of many people in the science field as well. Dutch invertor
Boyan Slat was especially influential, as he came up with an idea that could potentially get the
trash out of the ocean gyres. This new technology uses the ocean currents to its advantage. A
feasibility study is underway for this project and it is being inspected by governments around the
world11. This project started as a science experiment and goes to show that anyone can get
involved and help preserve the oceans, including a scientist who is only 20 years old.

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Along with the plastic and trash pollution there are many other problems that plague the
great blue seas. For a long time mankind felt that the oceans were so large no matter how much
junk and waste we poured into them there would never be any effects. However we now know
that that is not the case. Instead, pollution in the ocean takes many forms. Pollution is the
introduction of harmful contaminates that are not normal for the given ecosystem12. Pollutants
that reach the ocean include pesticides, herbicides, chemical fertilizers, detergents, oil, sewage,
and of course plastics. Pollution in the water can either be the result of point or nonpoint
pollution. Point pollution has an actual point that can be traced and eradicated. Nonpoint
pollution comes from a bunch of different sources and cannot be traced and is harder to get rid
of. It can be from small individual homes or business that all accumulate. Most of pollution is
caused by runoff12-13. Overfishing is also an issue in our ocean. Overfishing can lead to an
eradication of a species or endangerment of a species. This can have serious consequences to all
animals in the ecosystem. By reducing the population of one animal you indirectly effect the
population of other species and this is something that can cause a whole food web to collapse14.
Luckily, oceans can repair themselves.
It is not too late to change how we live and how much we impact the environment and the
oceans can go back to how they once were. As people there is a lot we can do to reduce all
pollution in the oceans. And a lot of what we can do carries over and makes land pollution less of
a problem too because our world is so interconnected. We should be more aware of the problems
affecting our oceans! Out of everything I read this by far is the most important and is
recommended by the most people. Being conscientious about our carbon footprint we are leaving
or just educating ourselves on the problems in the oceans can eradicate a lot of the issues15. The
other big thing is acting responsibly if everyone does there part and does the right thing we can

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get rid of pollution and save our planet. And last but not least a lot of sources talked about the
three Rs. Everyone knows them but its different to know something than to use it. Reduce.
Reuse. Recycle. By doing these three things we can change our environment for the better. And
keep trash out of the ocean16. Specifically for problems in the ocean there are many organizations
that you can support that focus mainly on keeping our oceans clean and healthy. One of them is
Oceana. Oceana is an international organization aimed at fixing the problems in our ocean
through education and legislation17. I joined their news alerts and updates page and I get emails
about the projects they work on. There are dozens of other organizations like Oceana out there
and they all help our oceans.

MY GROWTH AS A RESEARCHER
This has been a great experience. I have never found a topic that I enjoyed so much and
that I could dedicate so much time and energy towards. Starting from a basic idea and
researching it until had a thorough understanding of the topic was something I had never done on
this magnitude before and it was a very rewarding experience. I have learned this new way to
cite sources that will be very useful to me in the future. Overall I think I have grown as a
researcher and can apply what I learned to other areas of research I choose to pursue.

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Citations
1. About the expedition. 2013. [internet]. Woods Hole (MA): Sea Education Association; [cited
2015 Jun 11]. Available from http://www.sea.edu/plastics2010/about-expedition.htm
2. Summer, J. nd. The Plastic Age. [documentary]. i-D. Cunningham K.
3. Ocean gyre. nd. [internet]. National Geographic Association; [cited 2015 Jun 11]. Available
from http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/encyclopedia/ocean-gyre/?ar_a=1
4. Turgeon A. nd. Great pacific garbage patch. [internet]. National Geographic Association;
[cited 2015 Jun 11]. Available from
http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/encyclopedia/great-pacific-garbage-patch/?
ar_a=1
5. Solutions to Plastic Pollutions in our Oceans. 2014 Mar 8. [internet]. Natural Resources
Defense Council; [cited 2015 Jun 11]. Available from http://www.nrdc.org/oceans/plasticocean/default.asp
6. Chemical body burden; [cited 2015 Jun 11]. Available from
http://www.chemicalbodyburden.org/whatisbb.htm
7. Raw for the Oceans. nd. [internet]. G-star; [cited 2015 Jun 11]. Available from
http://rawfortheoceans.g-star.com/
8. From Blue To Green: Inside Pharrell's Latest Fashion Venture 2014 Feb 4. [internet] Forbes;
[cited 2015 Jun 11] Available from
http://www.forbes.com/sites/zackomalleygreenburg/2014/02/10/from-blue-to-green-insidepharrells-latest-fashion-venture/

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9. Not your run of the mill. nd. [internet]. Bionic Yarn; [cited 2015 Jun 11]. Available from
http://bionicyarn.com/
10. The cause. nd. [internet]. Parley; [cited 2015 Jun 11]. Available from
http://www.parley.tv/#the-cause
11. The largest clean up in history. nd. [internet]. The ocean clean up; [cited 2015 Jun 11].
Available from http://www.theoceancleanup.com/
12. Marine Pollution: centuries of abuse have taken a heavy toll. nd. [internet]. National
Geographic Association; [cited 2015 Jun 11]. Available from
http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/ocean/critical-issues-marine-pollution/
13. Pollution facts. nd. [internet] National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; [cited 2015
Jun 11]. Available from http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/pollution.html
14. Overfishing. nd. [interntet]. National Geographic Association; [cited 2015 Jun 11]. Available
from http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/ocean/critical-issues-overfishing/
15. 10 things you can do to save the oceans. nd . [internet]. National Geographic Association;
[cited 2015 Jun 11]. Available from http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/ocean/take-action/10things-you-can-do-to-save-the-ocean/
16. The three Rs: reduce reuse recycle. nd.[internet]. Missouri department of natural resources;
[cited 2015 Jun 11]. Available from http://dnr.mo.gov/env/swmp/pubs-reports/threers.htm
17. We are protecting the worlds oceans. nd. [internet]. Oceana; [cited 2015 Jun 11]. Available
from http://oceana.org/