9781422279168

introduction INTRODUCTION

In the middle of the North Pacific Ocean, between the east coast of Japan and the west coast of North America, lies the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. While the name may bring to mind an image of a huge, floating continent of litter, it’s actually a huge blob of tiny particles called microplastics . These are the remnants of plastic items (like water bottles, for instance) that have been broken down by the sun over time. However, even the sun can’t break plastic down com- pletely, and the microplastic particles cloud the sea like little granules of sand. Mixed in with the microplastics is other debris, from over 700,000 tons of fish- ing nets to stray toys and computer parts.

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