the great pacific ocean garbage patch
TRANSCRIPT
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Erica
Prof. Ray Cruz
Biology 1000
October 11, 2009
Scientists find Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch Article review
Today I have chosen to review an article about a large patch of garbage mostly
containing plastic, 1000 miles off the coast of California. The research was conducted by
Graduate students on board the New Horizon, a Scripps research vessel. On the Scripps
Environmental Accumulation of Plastic Expedition (SEAPLEX), researchers got the first detailed
view of plastic debris floating in a remote ocean region.
The expedition got underway August 2, 2009, when the New Horizon left its home port
of San Diego California. Before this expedition little was known about the size of the garbage
patch and the possible effects it might have on the biological environment and sea animals.
After transiting for six days the research vessel New Horizon approached its first sampling site.
The team of researchers began a 24 hour testing cycles using a variety of tow nets to
collect debris at several ocean depths.
"We targeted the highest plastic-containing areas so we could begin to understand the
scope of the problem," said Miriam Goldstein of SIO, chief scientist of the expedition. "We also
studied everything from phytoplankton to zooplankton to small midwater fish."
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On August 11th
the team of researchers came across a large fishing net that was
entangled with plastic bottles covered with barnacles, and other marine life as well as various
marine life. Pete Davison, an SIO graduate student studying midwater fish, collected many
types of species some of which traveled from depths as deep as 2296 feet down, up to the
oceans surface.
"We targeted the highest plastic-containing areas so we could begin to understand the scope of
the problem," said Miriam Goldstein of SIO, chief scientist of the expedition. "We also studied
everything from phytoplankton to zooplankton to small midwater fish."
By the end of the expedition the researchers found the garbage patch intriguing but had, had
their fill of trash. Itwasnt a pretty site
This article was interesting to me because of all the different species that were found to be
living there. Its amazing that a heap of garbage can be a community to so many organisms. It
seems like an unlikely place. While I find it both disturbing and disgusting to find such a large
quantity of garbage mostly containing plastic in the ocean, its fascinating that so many species
of marine life live there.
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Work Cited
Scientists Find Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch National Science Foundation Press
Release-09-159. Web. 27 Aug. 2009
Media Contacts
Cheryl Dybas, NSF (703) [email protected]
Cindy Clark, UCSD/SIO (858) [email protected]
Related Websites
SEAPLEX Expedition:http://sio.ucsd.edu/Expeditions/Seaplex/
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/good-bye?http://sio.ucsd.edu/Expeditions/Seaplex/http://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/good-bye?http://sio.ucsd.edu/Expeditions/Seaplex/http://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/good-bye?http://sio.ucsd.edu/Expeditions/Seaplex/http://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/good-bye?http://sio.ucsd.edu/Expeditions/Seaplex/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]