The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is Much Larger Than Previously Thought

Caitlin Dempsey

Updated:

The ocean is full of plastic.  

Discarded straws, bags, water bottles, and fishing lines are just a few of the sources of plastic that end up in the open ocean.

Since 60% of most plastics produced are less dense than seawater, these pieces are carried along by ocean currents.  Those plastics that don’t end up sinking or washing ashore, can eventually enter oceanic gyres as part of the circulation of ocean currents.

An ocean gyre is a large system of circular ocean currents influenced by global wind patterns and the earth’s rotation.  The strength of these systems pull debris and serve as a conduit for transporting plastic thousands of miles across the ocean.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is one such accumulation of trash found far out in an isolated section of the Pacific Ocean.  The eastern section of the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre contains a high volume of buoyant plastics.



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Map showing the gyres in light blue and spots of high garbage concentration with colored specks.  The background. map is a medium blue ocean and light green landforms.
Concentrations of marine debris known as the Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch in the North Pacific Ocean. Map: NOAA.

How much garbage is in the Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch?

Researchers have come up with a more accurate method for quantifying how much garbage is actually circulating in the GPGP.  

Using a combination of surface trawl samples to estimate small plastic volume and aerial imagery to calculate estimates of debris larger than 0.5 m, the researchers have determined that the GPGP is four to sixteen times larger than previously estimated.  Researchers estimate that at least 79 (45–129) thousand tons of ocean plastic are floating inside an area of 1.6 million km2.  

The researchers found that this number was sixteen times higher when compared to a study that used net trawl data only and four times higher than a study which used net trawl data combined with visual boat surveys.  

While these microplastics account for 94% of the estimated 1.8 (1.1–3.6) trillion pieces of debris floating in the GPGP, they account for only 8% of the mass.

Modelled mass concentration in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP). Altmetric: 2929More detail Article | OPEN Evidence that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is rapidly accumulating plastic. Lebreton et al., 2018
Modelled mass concentration in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP).  Lebreton et al., 2018

Researchers also determined that compared to historical data collected from surface net tows (1970–2015), the accumulation of plastic debris in the GPGP is growing exponentially.

Plastic debris by type and size. Plastic type H include pieces of hard plastic, plastic sheet and film, type N encompasses plastic lines, ropes and fishing nets, type P are pre-production plastic pellets, and type F are pieces made of foamed plastics. Lebreton et al., 2018
Plastic debris by type and size. Plastic type H include pieces of hard plastic, plastic sheet and film, type N encompasses plastic lines, ropes and fishing nets, type P are pre-production plastic pellets, and type F are pieces made of foamed plastics. Lebreton et al., 2018

The study:

Lebreton, L., Slat, B., Ferrari, F., Sainte-Rose, B., Aitken, J., Marthouse, R., … Reisser, J. (2018). Evidence that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is rapidly accumulating plastic. Scientific Reports, 8(1), 4666. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-22939-w

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About the author
Caitlin Dempsey
Caitlin Dempsey is the editor of Geography Realm and holds a master's degree in Geography from UCLA as well as a Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) from SJSU.