Environmental Impact of The Garbage Patch
- The garbage and plastics found in this area of the ocean contributes directly and indirectly to the death of many sea animals and birds.
- Plastics are not biodegradable, although over time they make break up into smaller pieces. They will never completely go away.
- Birds, fish, and other sea animals often mistake the garbage for food, and eat it, which has obvious repercussions.
- Many animal skeletons are found in the Pacific, their carcasses filled with plastics and other garbage.
Not only does the Great Pacific Garbage Patch kill animals and plants, it also can damage boats and submarine equipment. In 2005 alone, collisions with floating or submerged waste objects in the ocean caused 269 boating accidents, which resulted in 15 deaths, 116 injuries, and nearly 3 million dollars in property damage.
It can also pollute/litter beaches, and discourage people from using the ocean for recreation or fishing. There are some beaches that are buried up to ten feet in trash. Some of the other beaches face the problem of the “plastic sand.” Plastic sand is millions of grain-like pieces of plastic that are basically impossible to clean up because to do so you would have to take out all of the sand with it. These are also referred to as "nurdles" or "mermaid tears." They are something used in the making of many plastic goods, and have found their way into the ocean either by containers spilling or by them being dumped into the ocean.
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Effects on the Albatross
The albatross is a large sea bird that finds it's home mostly in the Pacific Ocean. Nearly 2 million albatrosses live on the Midway Islands alone, a small group of islands west of Hawaii.
It is estimated that albatrosses give birth to about 500,000 chicks every year. Unfortunately, roughly 200,000 of them die, mainly by consuming plastic fed to them by their parents, mistaking it for food. Over a million birds and marine animals die each year from eating or becoming caught in plastics/debris.
These are two albatross carcasses, their mid-sections filled with items such as bottle caps, pens, markers, and even cigarette lighters. These items are impossible to digest, so all they do is take up space in the bird's digestive system. This alone can cause the bird to starve to death, as there is no room for actual food to process. The animal believes it is full, because the stomach is filled with trash. They are fooled into not eating, and will probably starve to death. Some plastic things that get ingested by the animals will cause an infection inside them, leading to a painful death.