The myth of the North-Pacific garbage patch

One thing that is interesting to note, is that there is a common misconception about the gyres of the world. They are often known for having garbage patches’ or ‘floating rubbish islands’ accumulating around their centre. When I first read about the north pacific rubbish patch – an area the size of Texas – I imagined boats having to navigate through literal rubbish heaps, plowing their way through as flies and birds scavenged the mounts of trash.

But – the reality is, the rubbish is microscopic and creates a thin film on the surface of the water. Which makes it even more of an issue. Because of its relative size, the tiny pieces get mistaken as food, by birds and fish. You can figure out from there what problems this creates.

The rubbish that (we see) which washes up on coastlines, tends to be more of the bottles, bottle tops, noodle packets that you expect. When we arrive in Honolulu I will post some pictures of the impromptu clean up we did on Christmas Island.