The Garbage Patch: Oceans and Marine Debris

I was born in midwest but have lived less than 200 yards from the ocean for the last 30 years. I have made a few excursions away.... the cloud forest of Costa Rica, the asphalt desert of Arizona, the Cascades of southern Oregon, but seldom for long and usually not by choice. Here in Southeast Alaska, salt water becomes infused in your blood. Tide books litter the glove box of your truck. Rubber boots are the footwear of choice. Understanding the local cycles of the sea are the key to understanding the impending weather, the flow of the tides, the success of a fishing trip, the amount of fuel needed to reach a destination, where and how to anchor your boat... crucial knowledge that might mean the difference between having fish for dinner or just being thankful to make it home. One of the more engaging pastimes on our rocky coast is beach combing. In my younger days I was thrilled to find chunks long line, crab buoys, and the grand prize, floating glass ball from Japan. But over the last decade, I have come to view these abandoned treasures in a completely different light. That was when I first learned the word “Ocean Gyre”. This was to change my perspective on beach combing forever.



Ocean gyres are large, powerful, circular currents of water formed primarily by atmospheric wind patterns. Combined with the corialis effect, they form great, slow moving whirlpools in the middle of the ocean. In Alaska, the prevailing wind pattern blows in a southwesterly direction. The major currents of the Gulf of Alaska flow counter clockwise, forming a small gyre of its own. But as it makes it’s loop on the southern edge, it interacts with a much larger gyre, the North Pacific Gyre. Here is where most of the flotsam and jetsam of our civilization end up. Billions of pieces of plastic waste from bottles, bags, fishing gear, and other “disposable” items break down into small floating chunks and circulate slowly around to the gyre’s center. Exposed to sunlight and the action of waves, much of this plastic breaks down into small chunks and microscopic pieces. These pieces are then ingested by marine organism and then bioaccumulate through the food chain. Some forms of plastic do break down completely in a short time but this is not actually good news because they release toxins that are be quite harmful to the ocean ecosystem.



This floating plastic “raft” of is toxins is invisible to satellite imagery as it lays just under the surface of the ocean. Scientist have no idea how long it will take these plastic to completely break down. The article here from National Geographic explains more. Studies indicate that clean up is nearly impossible given the location and size of the junk gyres. Even if some form of a surface trawl could be devised to skim the plastic up, the amount of zooplankton by-catch would be devastating to the marine ecosystem. It is a problem that most people are completely unaware of, a problem with severe consequences, and a problem with no solution.

http://www.good.is/post/transparency-the-great-pacific-garbage-patch


In the introduction to this unit we revisited the importance of the connections on our planet and the lack of knowledge we have relating to our environment. To use a somewhat cliched metaphor, the ocean is the the blood of the planet. It is an intricate and amazing arrangement designed to nurture all of the systems that provide, directly and indirectly for our sustenance. In May of each year, when the days are long, the tides are big, and the weather might be nice, we take a full week in each and every grade in our school to do nothing but study the sea. Our hope is that we make sure these connections to the ocean remain strong, both spiritually and intellectually. in the end, they will be the ones who to solve the dilemma of the "Garbage Patch”.