Tracking Trash: Chapters 4–5

As it turns out, the Garbage Patch lies in a convergence zone, an area of the ocean where numerous currents come together and force surface waters to sink.

With the help of Curt, Jim, and other colleagues, Charlie designed an ambitious experiment to calculate exactly how much plastic—and, for comparison, how much zooplankton—was floating in the Garbage Patch.

“The point of that study,” says Charlie, “was to prove the aptness of the biblical adage ‘seek and ye shall find.’"

“The point of that study,” says Charlie, “was to prove the aptness of the biblical adage ‘seek and ye shall find.’"

The water reaching the ocean from these sources is often full of plastic, including everything from litter (discarded beverage bottles, plastic containers of all shapes and sizes, lost toys—the list is endless) to manufacturing waste (tiny plastic bits, called nurdles, that manufacturers produce as a precursor to larger plastic items).

A long exposure to sunshine, wind, and waves will eventually break plastic objects into smaller and smaller pieces of plastic, but those small pieces are still made entirely of indestructible, undigestable plastic.

Even larger pieces of plastic debris have been shown to wreak havoc on marine creatures.

Beaches around the world, even those on remote and uninhabited islands, bear the unmistakable marks of a plastic-dependent society.

On Kure Atoll, a ring-shaped coral island at the farthest reaches of the Hawaiian island chain, researchers routinely observe a startling array of plastic debris: bottles, buoys, fishing nets, hard hats, soccer balls, sneakers, and tub toys.

We need to stop using disposable plastics and at the same time invent new biodegradable materials to meet our plastic needs.

“We need sentinels on every mile. Walk one mile of beach every day and record what you see. You will be helping the ocean survive.”

“Driving up to it in a small boat, it looked very much like a barely emergent sand islet or reef,” remembers Dr. Mary Donohue, one of the team of scientists who eventually captured the beast.

“It was so buoyant that we could easily stand on it in the water.”

Between 1999 and 2005, this group of dedicated scientists, divers, and ecologists removed five hundred tons of net debris from the area, mostly by hand.

In collaboration with scientists across the country, the two flew over the Garbage Patch using satellite information, radar, and other technologies to spot ghost nets.

If the net drifts near a delicate habitat, like the coral reefs of Hawaii, a ship can be deployed to intercept it before it does any damage.

A tagged ghost net is floating in the foreground and the vessel is removing a ghost net.

The scene also depicts a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) identifying ghost nets from the air and a satellite aiding tracking and communication.

The scene also depicts a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) identifying ghost nets from the air and a satellite aiding tracking and communication.

The Ghostnet Program is indebted to the Master and Crew of the ORV Alguita.