Plastics floating in a massive “garbage patch” in the Pacific Ocean are home to strange new mixes of coastal and marine species that might increase the odds of biological invasions wreaking havoc on nearby ecosystems.
For the new study, researchers identified species living on just more than 100 pieces of plastic that were fished out of the so-called Great Pacific Garbage Patch—a region in the northern Pacific Ocean where currents converge to deposit an estimated 79,000 metric tons of plastic debris. The scientists identified 484 invertebrates from a surprising range of species on the plastic. Many of these animals were species that are more commonly found near coastlines of the western Pacific.
And as they looked closer, the scientists found that some two thirds of the debris pieces were home to coastal and open-ocean species living side by side. Plastic isn’t just carrying coastal species out to sea; it’s also creating unnatural neighborhoods that the researchers call “neopelagic communities.”
Haram and her colleagues found signs that these coastal species were reproducing. For instance, they found insectlike arthropods tending to clutches of eggs and anemones sprouting little clones of themselves—indicators that suggest the relocations aided by plastic aren’t necessarily temporary. And the plastic in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch doesn’t necessarily stay there but can instead wash up on foreign beaches, where transplanted species might take root.
Clean it up
Easy solution, light it on fire.
What is your opinion on the civil liberties violations during the Corona pandemic?
So it's creating diverse communities! That's a social win! Isn't it? Isn't it?
Hey here’s your own contribution to the garbage patch
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The Great Pacific Garbage Patch Is So Big, Invasive Species Are Now Thriving On ItCoastal critters thought to be strangers to the open ocean have been found amongst the seething mass of plastic waste that is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
Source: ScienceAlert - 🏆 63. / 68 Read more »
Great Pacific Garbage Patch hosts stable community of coastal animalsThe mass of rubbish floating in the Pacific Ocean has been found to host a previously unknown type of ecological community of arthropods, molluscs and sea anemones that normally live by the shore So I guess pollution was good all along Paywall guarded
Source: newscientist - 🏆 541. / 51 Read more »
Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch Is Bursting With LifeThe 80,000-ton cloud of plastic and trash floating in the Pacific Ocean known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is an environmental disaster. It is also teeming with life. It's hard to explain how we, as humanity, haven't deal this very specific problem. Teeming with life 98% of those plastics originate from 10 rivers in Asia, according to a study….
Source: WSJ - 🏆 98. / 63 Read more »
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is now so huge and permanent that a coastal ecosystem is thriving on it, scientists sayIn a new study published in the Nature Ecology & Evolution journal on Monday, a team of researchers revealed that dozens of species of coastal invertebrate organisms have been able to survive a…
Source: mercnews - 🏆 88. / 68 Read more »
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is now so huge and permanent that a coastal ecosystem is thriving on it, scientists say | CNNScientists have found thriving communities of coastal creatures, including tiny crabs and anemones, living thousands of miles from their original home on plastic debris in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch -- a 620,000 square mile swirl of trash in the ocean between California and Hawaii. Sad statement for humanity, that everything we touch, we destroy eventually. Really time for the animal kingdom to give it a shot - run the planet for awhile and restore it to health once more. We are just on such a self-destructive path. Is Trump’s fault as always. A shame that countries can't come together to clean up the mess.
Source: CNN - 🏆 4. / 95 Read more »
Advice | How to remove shower doors and patch the holes left in the tileAdvice: The job involves removing the doors, then the top, side and bottom tracks — in that order. And filling the holes left behind is simple, with the right materials. Cool opinion piece! Compost And single edge razors are handy to get off any caulk residue on the tile. FYI
Source: washingtonpost - 🏆 95. / 72 Read more »