Scientists Probe "Great Pacific Garbage Patch"
Blob of accumulated plastic trash reportedly the size of Texas
By ERIC S. PAGE
Updated 3:37 PM PST, Thu, Jul 30, 2009
Scientists from UCSD will leave this weekend to explore a massive, nasty blob in the North Pacific that has been reported being the size of Texas or larger.
Scripps Institution of Oceanography researchers will leave Sunday aboard the New Horizon for a nearly three-week expedition to study the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
The Scripps Environmental Accumulation of Plastic Expedition (SEAPLEX) will be the first of its kind, officials said, and will focus on, among other things, how the garbage patch is affecting ocean life and how fast it is accumulating. The exact size of the blob is unknown, something else the expedition will try to determine.
"There is little scientific information on the composition, extent and effects of the debris," according to Scripps' Web site.
What is known is that the blob is made up of accumulated trash, though the tiny pieces of plastic that make up the entire debris field are not detectable by planes overhead or satellites in space.
First Published: Jul 30, 2009 11:10 AM PST
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