John Perry Fish of American Underwater Search and Survey on Cape Cod
They'll have to work with flotsam. You get the wind and current data and work back. You have to distinguish between the light material that is on the surface and exposed to the wind, and the buoyant material, which is floating, but just under the surface and not exposed to the winds.
But the ocean is in that area is so garbage-filled that rescue workers are having trouble locating any signs of the plane among the floating piles of waste.
Finding Garbage While Looking For Debris
Earlier in the week, rescue workers reported that they had found debris--two buoys and a cargo pallet--that had come from the plane, but it turned out to just be floating garbage. Officials worry that the trash will make it too difficult to locate the downed craft from the air. They plan to send in submarines as a last resort.
Trash Islands in Our Oceans
Ocean-bound refuse tends to congregate in gyres. There are about five major “trash islands” in the world. One of them, between North America and Asia, is twice the size of Texas. Air France Flight 447 did not go down in one of these major gyres. It fell into an area of minor trash congestion.
Ocean Life Disrupted By Garbage
Plastic waste accounts for 90% of all the waste in our oceans. It has a devastating impact on ocean life. Notably, sea turtles mistake the plastic bags for jellyfish and try to eat them. Birds also attempt to eat the floating chunklets of plastic.
The floating-garbage problem doesn't stop at marine life. The plastic acts as a sponge for harmful chemicals. The chemicals work their way through the food chain and end up in our food.
-
- groups:
- Upstream, News, Green, Earth and Science
-
- tags:
- News, Green, Earth and Science, Upstream + add
-
- recommended by:
- Vierotchka
-
-
-
-
- pjacobs51
- added this
-
The worlds largest Garbage Dump the Atlantic Ocean. I sure hope they can find what they are looking for and put an end to this terrible tragedy
-
-
-
-
- Jeffnfun631
- 5 months ago
-
-
I know they are kinda busy with the task at hand, but is anyone attempting to remove this garbage while they are at it ? Just a thought....
-
i allways thought that a series of giant nets could be pulled through the water and we could clean up the mess in the ocean. and then ummm launch it into space!... twoards the sun!
sigh" i cant beleive how bad our oceans are.
calvin and hobbes would be pissed! -
I agree, Russia does it why can't we?
-
-
-
-
- mymountain
- 5 months ago
-
-
The picture shown here is obviously not anywhere near the site... Cheesey cheap journalism...
-
Can someone tell me where people just dump trash into the ocean. Or is this just an unofficial common practice that I'm unaware of?
-
Trash islands twice the size of Texas? That's horribly insane.
