Mike Munoz

Professor Cole

English 2010

April 3rd, 2017

Plastic Is Ruining Our Pacific Ocean

Have you ever seen someone throw their trash onto the street, the sidewalk, or even at the

beach? As a society we tend not to care where we throw our trash because our actions we never

affects us.Truth is that it will affect us someday in the future because of one giant mess we

have created. That giant mess is called,The Great Pacific Garbage Patch.The Garbage Patch is

harming marine life because most of your trash is made out of plastic, which feeds the monster.

If we reduce our plastic usage than we will reduce the size of the garbage patch and the impact it

has on marine life!

A lot of people find it hard to believe that their water bottle they left on the floor, or their

plastic soda rings from a party will never reach the ocean. To them it seems like a myth, but in

reality it does make it to the ocean due to wind currents that can easily push a water bottle. That

plastic water bottle will ride on one of many wind currents that surround the pacific side of

America, like the north equatorial current or the north pacific current. These two huge currents

that spin in a clockwise position create a huge area that makes the garbage patch, which is where

all of our plastic waste just sits there. According to Proskurowski, a researcher at the University

of Washington, discovered that wind was pushing the lightweight plastic particles below the

surface. That meant that decades of research into how much plastic litters the ocean, conducted

by skimming only the surface, may in some cases vastly underestimate the true amount of plastic

debris in the oceans.

 Now you maybe wondering who is responsible for creating the garbage patch, the plastic

monster who is harming marine life. Well, according to National Geographic, About 80% of

the debris in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch comes from land-based activities in North America

and Asia. Trash from the coast of North America takes about six years to reach the Great Pacific

Garbage Patch, while trash from Japan and other Asian countries takes about a year. These

countries use or get rid of so much plastic for manufacturing items, like your smartphone,

television, or other electronic devices. The remaining 20% of debris in the Great Pacific

Garbage Patch comes from boaters, offshore oil rigs, and large cargo ships that dump or loose

debris directly into the water. The majority of this debrisabout 705,000 tonsis fishing nets.

More unusual items, such as computer monitors and LEGOs, come from dropped shipping

containers(Nat.geo).

Plastic is a material that is non-biodegradable, which means that it can't be decomposed

by organisms.Scientist call it, Microplastics because the plastic material breaks down into

tinier and tinier pieces over time. Microplastics are long five millimeters in diameter(Safina),so

this creates a huge problem with marine life because they think its food. Plastic threatens

marine mammals like algae or plankton because the plastic blocks sunlight for them.If Animals

that feed on algae and plankton, such as fish and turtles, will have less food. If populations of

those animals decrease, there will be less food for apex predators such as tuna, sharks, and

whales. Eventually, seafood becomes less available and more expensive for people(Nat.Geo).

Other marine life might get tangled in fishing gear, cosmetic items, other stuff that's just sitting

there at the garbage patch. For example, According to Mark Mccormick, World Animal

Protection highlight that around 640,000 tons of gear is discarded annually resulting in at least

136,000 seals, sea lions and large whales being killed each year. Animals that fall victim to ghost
gear become entangled. Some, the lucky ones, may either drown within minutes. The unlucky

victims can endure long, slow & painful deaths that can last for months and years, suffering from

debilitating wounds, infection and starvation. The gear that is left behind are things like fishing

nets, wires, fishing poles, etc. This is why it is called Ghost Gear because these fisherman just

throw it out into the ocean when they are done fishing!

One way we as a society can help reduce the garbage patch is to reduce our plastic usage.

Did you know that,Ninety percent of the plastic items in our daily lives are used once and then

chucked: grocery bags, plastic wrap, disposable cutlery, straws, coffee-cup lids. Take note of how

often you rely on these products and replace them with reusable versions. It only takes a few

times of bringing your own bags to the store, silverware to the office, or travel mug to Starbucks

before it becomes habit(Engler). Another solution that can help contribute to reduce this mess is

by simply recycling. However, this solution may seem simple, but we aren't really doing great to

recycle plastics. We can fix this small issue by talking to our officials about potentially giving

those who recycle plastics a small benefit. For example, maybe recycling 5 lbs of plastic can give

you a small discount for the grocery store, or potentially some money can be given to you for

contribution to help out. You can also help raise awareness with social media. Social media is a

good platform to inform people about this issue. You can share articles that talk about the

garbage patch or plastic pollution to your friends on any social media platform.Last but not least,

is to get our officials to penalize the countries involved creating this monster, the oil rigs who

throw equipment to the ocean, or fishermen who leave gear behind. They should be forced to pay

a fine, but it depends on how bad they pollute our oceans. They can have another option instead

of paying the fine, which is to donate a lot of money to organizations that are trying to find ways
to efficiently clean up the garbage patch and to give a public speech that says they will reduce

plastic usage and not pollute our oceans.

In conclusion, reducing our plastic usage will have a positive impact on the garbage patch

and marine life. Marine life will no longer have to suffer if we take the necessary actions to help

them out. The Garbage Patch will reduce in size if we continue to reduce plastic usage.Raising

awareness through social media will catch the attention that this issue needs!
 Works Cited

Engler, Sarah. "10 Ways to Reduce Plastic Pollution." NRDC. N.p., 05 Jan. 2016. Web.

07 Apr. 2017.

"Great Pacific Garbage Patch." National Geographic Society. N.p., 09 Oct. 2012. Web.

07 Apr. 2017.

Hines, Sandra. "Wind pushes plastics deeper into oceans, driving trash estimates up

(with video)." UW Today. N.p., 25 Apr. 2017. Web. 07 Apr. 2017.

McCormick, Mark. "How the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is Destroying the Oceans and

the Future for Marine Life." One Green Planet. N.p., 04 Mar. 2015. Web. 07 Apr.

2017.

Safina, Carl. "Pesky plastic: The true harm of microplastics in the oceans." National

Geographic Society (blogs). N.p., 04 Apr. 2016. Web. 07 Apr. 2017.