Wednesday, November 24, 2004

The results are in:
Plastic 10, Zooplankton 1

There are 10 pounds of plastic particles in the Pacific Ocean for every pound of zooplankton, the microscopic creatures that are the basis of the ocean food chain, according the a recent study by a California oceanographer. The oceanographer sampled a region of the Pacific, a giant ocean whirlpool, which draws ocean garbage toward it. The ocean will break up one pound of plastic into a 100,000 small pieces over time, pieces which are ingested by marine life. One known bad effect: Plastic concentrates toxic pollutants at 1 million times the level of ocean water. That implies that the plastic diet of the ocean's fish is making them more toxic than ever.

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1 comment:

Oberon said...

......yeah.....i saw that pacific ocean whirlpool on pbs....it was like a toilet for trash plastic....and that's the point....all plastic ends up as trash!