Plastic Bits from the Gyre

Plastic does not biodegrade; it photodegrades, which means that sunlight breaks it down into smaller and smaller pieces. These bits of plastic and plankton were collected during a 3:00 am manta net tow, and are just a sample of the plankton-like plastic pi
(© Annie Crawley)

Plastic does not biodegrade; it photodegrades, which means that sunlight breaks it down into smaller and smaller pieces. These bits of plastic and plankton were collected during a 3:00 am manta net tow, and are just a sample of the plankton-like plastic pieces collected on every trawl in the gyre. If you were a fish, you could not tell the difference between plankton (your natural food source) and these tiny bits of plastic. Read more about science in the great Pacific garbage patch.