3 ms·
You're conflating "plastic in the ocean" with "plastic in the Pacific garbage patch". The plastic tends to accumulate far from land (or so the model animations
by concordDance 2y ago
You're conflating "plastic in the ocean" with "plastic in the Pacific garbage patch".
The plastic tends to accumulate far from land (or so the model animations I've seen indicate). And most of the fish and other wildlife are near land.
Indeed, overlaying models of where the plastic is with a fishing heat map (e.g. globalfishingwatch.org) shows very little overlap between fishing areas and garbage areas.
- hobofan 2y agoI'm not sure what you are seeing when you are overlaying those maps, but I am seeing a clear overlap between the western extent of the pacific garbage patch, and fishing activity. Besides that, you are conflating "where fish are fished" with "where fish live/grow up". Many fished species (and/or their prey) heavily migrate, and when migrating take advantage of the same ocean currents that lead to formation of the garbage patch, and are thus in close proximity. Of course the majority of fishing activity will be close to land, as that's more economical, but that doesn't mean that the fish fished there have only grown up their and/or not been exposed through to plastic via their food chain.