The Pacific Garbage Patch is a vortex in the Pacific Ocean that has collected marine debris like plastic, chemical sludge and other garbage. It extends over a large area, but much of the detritus is trapped below the water. Estimates of its size place it at 70,000 square kilometres to more than 15,000,000 square kilometres. The garbage patch was predicted in a 1988 paper from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Researchers have discovered other large concentrations of oceanic trash accumulating in vortices or gyres. Other garbage patches exist in the North Atlantic and the Indian Ocean. This oceanic landfill has one of the highest amounts of known plastic bits suspended in the upper water column. Fast degrading plastics leave behind potentially deadly chemicals like PCBs and polystyrene derivatives, while long-lasting plastics have become part of the food chain. Many animals ingest plastic particles including sea turtles, birds and fish because they mistake them for something in their natural diet. Albatross chicks often die because their parents feed them plastic bits. These mistakes can be lethal as displayed in the image. Project Kaisei was launched in 2009 to study the floating debris heap and determine the possibility of large scale recycling. To this date, no solution has been discovered.
