Comments on: Man to SWIM through Pacific Garbage Patch

By: dave

dave — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 15:30:45 +0000

no matter what it, is or what it isnt! there is a big problem that my fellow mankind needs to be aware of….. what needs to be done ??????.. simple solution recover the debris. my self and other recently terminated workers across the great divide, hop on board the recology flag ship and conquer the gyre heap!!!! we made it now we must take care of it…

By: darbyandjoan

darbyandjoan — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:37:28 +0000

Here is an additional resource released by the NOAA’s Marine Debris Program on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch: http://www.chicobag.com/NOAA_GarbagePatchFacts.pdf

Thanks for the comments!

By: Deb

Deb — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 22:03:45 +0000

My understanding is that it isn’t anything like a patch, even though it is most often described as one. In fact the plastic is very scattered in an area twice the size of Texas, and it isn’t “slightly submerged” but rather 300 ft to 2 miles (!) deep in places.

Also according to Wikipedia, a gyre in oceanography is “any large system of rotating ocean currents, particularly those involved with large wind movements”. In this case, the gyre has large concentrations of garbage.