I am not surprised in learning that the Atlantic Ocean's garbage patch has now been discovered. Researchers carried out a two decade study in areas of the Caribbean and the North Atlantic off of the US coast – the longest study on record of plastic marine debris conducted in any ocean basin. The maximum finding in an area being 200,000 pieces of debris per square kilometer, comparable to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

This data has just recently been released by the Sea Education Association (SEA) who report over 6,100 tows having been performed in the aformentioned areas. The majority of specimens found were plastics used to make consumer items, as well as a bevvy of plastic bag remains, all no more than 1 cm across but large in number in some areas.

Dr. Kara Lavender Law of the Sea Education Association explained, "We found a region fairly far north in the Atlantic Ocean where this debris appears to be concentrated and remains over long periods of time. More than 80% of the plastic pieces we collected in the tows were found between 22 and 38 degrees north. So we have a latitude for [where this] rubbish seems to accumulate." (See picture above.)

This article appears in Feb 24 – Mar 2, 2010.