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News Release 09-159

Scientists Find "Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch"

Discover extensive plastic debris floating 1,000 miles from land

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Photo of a large net tangled with plastic in the garbage patch.

SEAPLEX researchers spotted a large net tangled with plastic in the "garbage patch."

Credit: Scripps Institution of Oceanography


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Photo of a by-the-wind sailor jellyfish.

By-the-wind sailor jellyfish and other animals live in the North Pacific Ocean Gyre.

Credit: National Park Service


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Photo of plastic bottles, many with an assortment of inhabitants.

Scientists retrieved myriad plastic bottles, many with an assortment of inhabitants.

Credit: Scripps Institution of Oceanography


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Photo of plastic that floated at the surface and carried a crab, algae and flying fish eggs.

A piece of plastic floating at the surface carries a crab, algae and masses of flying fish eggs.

Credit: Scripps Institution of Oceanography


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