What is the trajectory of plastics?
Some of the floating plastics are transported offshore and enter the ocean gyres (a vortex of ocean currents caused by wind circulation between the continents). An area of significant accumulation of floating plastic has been identified in the eastern part of the North Pacific subtropical gyre. This area has been described as 'a gyre within a gyre' and commonly referred to as the 'Great Pacific Garbage Patch'. The relatively high concentrations of ocean plastic occurring in this region are mainly attributed to a connection with substantial sources of ocean plastic in Asia, through the Kuroshio Extension (KE) current system, as well as to intensified fishing activity in the Pacific Ocean.