Trash has been building up in the gyres since the very beginning, any thing that lasts more than seven years and stays near the surface will build up in trash areas. It may not necessarily be plastic, however, most of it will be since other types of trash biodegrade while plastic does not. The way the gyres function, as they gather debris towards their centers is what causes the plastic build up in these patches. However plastics can float around trapped in currents for years until they finally are grouped with the rest of the trash. This causes a long serpent of trash that traces the gyres without out a head or a tail almost a continuous train of trash with its final destination principally being either the eastern garbage patch in the north east or the western garbage patch in the north west of the gyre. The recording of trash in the ocean and on beaches have been kept since the 70's, however the first actual discovery of the garbage ring was by Captain Charles Moore on August 3 1997, while on a trip from Hawaii to California.


Found in samples collected in waters from the United States, Europe, India, and Japan were derivatives of polystyrene, styrofoam, and hard plastics. When scientists later simulated the decomposition of polystyrene in the sea they found behind in the water the same compounds detected in the ocean samples: styrene trimer, a polystyrene by-product, and bisphenol A.

Bisphenol A (BPA) has been shown to interfere with the reproductive systems of animals; while styrene monomer is a suspected carcinogen. About 44 percent of all seabirds eat plastic, often with fatal effects. In addition, many marine species are affected by plastic garbage. For example, animals swallow plastic bags assuming that they are a food source since the floating bags resemble jellyfish in mid-ocean. Pollutants become more concentrated as animals eat other contaminated animals. Ultimately leading to dangerous impurities throughout the entire food chain.

--> (Mother Nature) The reason marine debris is a problem is? .... entanglement, food supply, photodegradation, mechanical tearing ... fishing debris, boating debris, cargo ships, naval vessels, nurdles ....

Image courtesy of NOAA Marine Debris Program	Image courtesy of Mother Nature Network
	Image courtesy of ABC news (time 1:48)