A messy Pacific

Thursday, Sept. 10, 2009 | 2:06 a.m.

A thousand miles north of Hawaii is an area scientists have dubbed the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Currents swirl in a way that creates a dump site twice the size of Texas in the middle of the North Pacific Ocean. The bulk of the trash is believed to have been swept into the ocean from storm drains in coastal cities from China to Mexico.

In the largest study of the area so far, researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the nonprofit Project Kaisei trolled the area for garbage last month.

Although they found pieces of trash — including bottles, fishing nets and a stuffed toy animal — bobbing on the surface of the ocean, their real concern is the “soup” of plastic and man-made materials, most the size of confetti, just below the surface.

Researchers are now studying what they found, but there is plenty of reason for concern:

• Scientists say the chemicals in the plastic can leach into the ocean, releasing potentially deadly toxins and harming marine life and polluting the water.

• Plastic has entered the food chain — jellyfish and other marine species were observed eating it, meaning the toxins could end up in larger game fish that end up on the dinner table.

• The scientists also found crabs and fish eggs floating on the larger pieces of debris and are concerned that invasive species are floating around the world, which could damage other ecosystems.

A cleanup, at this point, is out of the question because of the cost and effort involved. It would also mean the death of marine life scooped up along with the trash.

Until someone finds a way to clean up the ocean, the best thing to do is limit the amount of garbage being added to the Pacific. The United States should work with other nations to curb ocean pollution and put a premium on recycling.

Sadly this floating garbage dump is the consequence of humans not caring about the world around them.