CREATED BY: LAUREN, ALLISON, SAVANNAH, AND KIARA :D
Plastic in the Sargasso Sea
Plastic in the Sargasso Sea is a growing problem. Plastic can be consumed by land animals and sea animals. In the picture to the left you can see that this problem will not go away without the help of us. Everyday millions of pieces of trash gets dumped into the oceans. 80% of the plastic in the ocean is from land and 20% is from direct dumping of plastic.
The problem? Us. The plastic in the ocean is not getting there by itself. We contribute to ALL of it. For whatever reason:shipwreck,storm, or accident,strange things have been dropped in the ocean. And when those strange things have been dropped in they go on an outrageous journey across the world.Plastic is valued for its resistance to degradation, so its life spand can be hundreds of years.When the plastic reaches our oceans, it eventually breaks down due to the action of the sun,wind, and currents, into small pieces that wildlife confuse with food. In fact the earth's largest landfill really isn't on land.
Would'nt this debris simply get dispersed,virtually elliminating the possibility of an encounter with a marine animal? The answer is no.While the ocean does disperse the trash, it also runs in currents, which can keep the floating trash traveling constantly in "gyres". Concentrating it in areas where currents meet. The largest of these movements,is called the central gyre.It moves in a clockwise circular pattern,moving inside the Gulf Stream and dominates the western North Atlantic.The studies began 1984 have tracked how these currents keep plastics migrating, with heavy concentrations in the northern Sargasso Sea(coincidentally,a favorite spawning place for fish).
The plastic bins and trash cans around your home aren't just there for looks. They are there for a reason this reason is..Reduce,Reuse,Recycle! If we all take action, we can reduce alot of the plastic in our oceans.You're the main problem, why not be the solution?
Aquatic Life
Newborn turtles usually go DIRECTLY to the sargasso sea to get the many nutrients that it needs to survive. If a turtle mistook a piece of plastic for food, over time this could decrease the population by alot, and could possibly extinct them. We have caused this problem in the ocean and if you think that a few gyers will clean out all of the plastic then you are sadly mistaken. Helping get rid of the plastic is VERY easy. All you have to do is once a day pick up ONE piece of trash ANYWHERE! Even filling up a water bottle once could be the difference between life or death.
Newborn turtles usually go DIRECTLY to the sargasso sea to get the many nutrients that it needs to survive. If a turtle mistook a piece of plastic for food, over time this could decrease the population by alot, and could possibly extinct them. We have caused this problem in the ocean and if you think that a few gyers will clean out all of the plastic then you are sadly mistaken. Helping get rid of the plastic is VERY easy. All you have to do is once a day pick up ONE piece of trash ANYWHERE! Even filling up a water bottle once could be the difference between life or death.
