A big patch of plastic garbage has been discovered in the Arctic

Re:A big patch of plastic garbage has been discovered in the... by pbreit on Friday April 21, 2017 @01:11AM (#14163234)

I was wondering why there were no pictures. Hard to get to concerned about what seems like extremely minimal amounts of rubbish. I'd be surprised if it's particularly dangerous or troublesome for wildlife.

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Re:A big patch of plastic garbage has been discovered in the... by phireal on Friday April 21, 2017 @05:01AM (#14164027)

The plastics are not inert and interfere with the smaller organisms feeding in the ocean. Since these form the base of the ocean food web, if their growth is disturbed, the rest of the food chain suffers negatively.

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Re:A big patch of plastic garbage has been discovered in the... by DanBC on Saturday April 22, 2017 @09:32PM (#14175919)

Hang on, in some places the plastic fragments are more numerous than food.

The plastic also tends to gather up other pollutants - PCBs for example - and for smaller creatures that's a problem. And these concentrate through the food chain.

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