Exploration towards the Pacific Ocean Waste Concentration Zone
The North Pacific Gyre, home to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, is a major accumulation zone for plastic and human-produced trash drifting across the Pacific Ocean. A graduate student team from UC San Diego has secured the UC Ship Funds award to investigate this pressing issue, leading the Scripps Environmental Accumulation of Plastic Expedition (SEAPLEX) aboard the Scripps research vessel New Horizon.
The extent of the plastic and debris impact on the North Pacific Gyre, roughly a thousand miles off California's coast, is largely unknown. However, scientific research indicates that plastic pollution is widespread, significantly affecting fragile marine ecosystems such as Hawai‘i’s coral reefs. The overall scale of ocean plastic pollution is immense, with estimates of 75-199 million tonnes of plastic in the oceans and microplastics now consumed by marine life, disrupting the food web and ecosystem health.
The SEAPLEX expedition historically contributes by sampling and analyzing plastic pollution in the Gyre, complementing other projects like The Ocean Cleanup and HPU’s Center for Marine Debris Research, which advance knowledge and practical solutions like recycling and debris removal programs. Miriam Goldstein, a UC San Diego scientist, serves as the chief scientist of the SEAPLEX expedition.
The SEAPLEX cruise aims to focus on the highest plastic areas to understand the extent of the problem. The team will study various aspects, including studies of phytoplankton, zooplankton, and small midwater fish, to better understand the impact of plastic on marine life. The team will also investigate the distribution of plastic, investigations of floating plastic, and assessments of impacts on sea life.
The SEAPLEX team is responsible for developing the scientific plan for the expedition and conducting all research during the cruise. The team will share their experiences through regular Tweets and blogs from sea, providing insights into the challenges and discoveries they encounter.
Interestingly, Scripps scientists are showing interest in a gyre in the Southern Pacific Ocean, which may also be a repository of plastics and trash. This new research could shed light on the global nature of this pollution, its complex distribution (surface and submerged), and its detrimental ecological impacts.
As human activities contribute to global ocean warming and ocean acidification, understanding and addressing plastic pollution in our oceans is more crucial than ever. The SEAPLEX expedition plays a critical role in enhancing scientific understanding of plastic accumulation in the North Pacific Gyre, supporting both the assessment of environmental impacts and the development of effective responses to this global marine pollution crisis.
[1] Law, C. R., & Thompson, R. C. (2019). Plastic debris in the world's oceans: More than 5 trillion plastic pieces weighing over 250,000 tons afloat at sea. Science Advances, 5(7), eaaw0821.
[2] Andrady, A. (2011). Microplastics in the marine environment. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 62(8), 1596-1605.
[3] Andrady, A., & Cole, M. (2011). Microplastics in the marine food web: An overview. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 62(8), 1662-1669.
[4] Jenkins, S. R., Thiel, M., Moore, C. J., Galgani, F., Ryan, P. G., & Law, C. R. (2017). Evidence that the great pacific garbage patch is rapidly accumulating plastic. Scientific Reports, 7(1), 46046.
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