A six-to-one plastic to plankton ratio in our ocean is something that seems surreal but is sadly a reality we have created:
In 2002 [Charles Moore] was startled to discover a six-to-one plastic to plankton ratio in the eastern garbage patch: six pieces of plastic to every piece of zooplankton. This past November he was alarmed even more, finding that 600 miles outside the center of the garbage patch, ocean water samples contained a three-to-one plastic to plankton ratio.
We haven’t yet had a plastic-free sample from anywhere in the Pacific Ocean.
According to Mr. Moore's findings about 80% of the plastic comes from humans on land and of that 90% is household pollution. That means that the majority of this plastic filling our oceans is basically litter.
Baby Laysan albatross of Midway Atoll are literally starving to death. Their carcasses litter the beaches, stomachs bursting with plastic bottle caps, cigarette lighters and other recognizable plastic debris. Jellyfish, which thrive on plankton, ingest tiny bits of plastic along with their food.
Dr. Curtis Ebbesmeyer [founder of Beachcombers Alert] has proposed the thesis that all the food in the ocean contains plastic. That’s the alarming possibility.
Very alarming.
