If properly deployed, the organization predicts it could remove 90% of all floating ocean plastic by 2040. Slat said that many aspects need to be finessed, but that a fleet of The Ocean Cleanup's systems could clean it up. Slat believes that about 10 upscaled systems could clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, and that they could remove 50% of it in the first 5 years. Crew members also monitor marine life interactions. The boats tow it at roughly 1.5 miles per hour, so that marine life can easily swim in, out and around, and there are quick release systems, escape routes, cameras and lights to help animals escape the netting.
Giant pacfic itrash island Patch#
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is the most famous of these piles.Ī post shared by The Ocean Cleanup Ocean Cleanup also designed the system to be animal friendly. There are five gyres in the ocean - one in the Indian, two in the Atlantic and two in the Pacific - and each gyre contains garbage patches of different sizes. The aquatic piles are formed by rotating currents called "gyres," which are like "big whirlpools that pull objects in." Marine garbage patches such as the one in the Pacific are large areas where debris collects, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Microplastics - plastic materials smaller than 5 centimeters - make up roughly 8% of the mass, but 94% of the estimated 1.8 trillion pieces of debris floating in the area, researchers found. In 2018, research estimated that there are at least 79,000 tons of plastic inside a 1.6 million-square-kilometer area. The Ocean Cleanup says the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is one of the largest marine debris patches in the world. "We still have a lot of things to iron out, but one thing we know now is that, with a small fleet of these systems, we can clean this up." "While it's just the tip of the iceberg, these kilograms are the most important ones we will ever collect, because they are proof that cleanup is possible," Slat said in the release. In total, the organization says, it collected 63,182 pounds of plastic from the ocean during its test extractions. Among the haul were items such as toilet seats, toothbrushes, laundry baskets, shoes, sleds and fishing gear. The organization completed its final test of the system last week, and on October 14, The Ocean Cleanup tweeted it had gathered 9,000 kilograms - more than 19,841 pounds - of debris.
Giant pacfic itrash island series#
They conducted a series of tests over the course of 12 weeks, each one consisting of the system being taken offshore to safely gather plastic from the ocean. In July, The Ocean Cleanup, which has been developing a system to help clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, took its first large-scale cleanup system, called System 002, or Jenny, to the Pacific. For years, researchers said it might not be possible to remove the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, but now, one non-profit is proving them wrong.
In the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and California floats a massive collection of debris that has long been accumulating trash - from fishing nets to microplastics - known to be harmful to the marine environment.
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