Effects On Wildlife

When the plastic degrades it doesn't decompose like other materials.  Instead it breaks down into smaller and smaller particles until it greatly resembles plankton.  These small plastic particles are then ingested by jellyfish which are at the bottom of the food chain.  These jellyfish, being at the bottom of the food chain, are ingested by other animals and this happens all the way up the entire food chain until all the animals are ingesting the plastic particles.  This can be very disruptive to the marine animals, because when the plastic is floating around in the ocean it absorbs pollutants, such as PCBs, DDT, and PAHs.  All of the chemicals are highly toxic to animals and cause major hormonal problems in them.  The picture above is a bird that has ingested a large amount of plastic debris and died form it.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a very big problem that gets very little attention in the media of today.  It is being largely looked over because people do not know how to fix the problem that is causing this massive trash vortex. 
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is an accumulation of the world's plastic waste.  It is located in the northern Pacific Ocean and according to the National Science Foundation it is roughly twice the size of Texas.  The plastic is accumulating at this point due to the ocean currents carrying it with them until they converge in the northern pacific.