Ocean Plastic’s Mystery Ending

http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2012/10/22/ocean-plastics-mystery-ending/

Ocean Plastic’s Mystery Ending
Posted by Jonathan Waterman in Ocean Views on October 22, 2012

As we continue sailing west, we have more questions than answers about 
our plastic quarry. We’re now more than halfway to Hawaii, with 
California 1,200 miles and 17 days behind us. While we’ve conducted more 
than 40 net deployments and counted close to 40,000 pieces of plastic in 
the North Pacific gyre, researchers at Sea Education Association (SEA) 
and elsewhere cannot say for any certainty what happens to the floating 
plastic.

The plastic could linger in the ocean for an indeterminate number of 
years, but no one can say how long it takes the plastic to disappear 
from the surface and what happens next. In the Atlantic Ocean, particle 
traps have been placed deep in the water column near Bermuda, and 
despite the presence of floating plastic in the region, researchers have 
not detected plastic in the traps.
http://youtu.be/RTKuL0Bqx68

The Science of Plastics at SEA (2012)

Published on 13 Oct 2012 by SeaEducationAssn
Get a glimpse at the variety of research objectives being carried out on 
the Plastics at SEA: North Pacific Expedition 2012.

Ocean Plastic’s Mystery Ending