The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is teeming with delicate organisms called neuston that appear to be swept up by the same ocean currents as plastic pollution. The finding suggests that efforts to trap and remove plastic from this area could accidentally remove these creatures as well.
Neuston are organisms that float on the ocean surface. They encompass a wide range of species, including blue sea dragons (Glaucus atlanticus), violet snails (Janthina janthina), blue button jellyfish (Porpita porpita) and by-the-wind sailors (Velella velella).
Despite their beauty, neuston have received little scientific attention and most people have never heard of them, says at the University of North Carolina, Asheville.
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In 1972, US scientists conducted one of the in the North Atlantic Ocean and noticed that their sampling nets also caught hundreds of bits of plastic. This marked the discovery of the North Atlantic Garbage Patch 鈥� a region where circulating ocean currents have concentrated large amounts of plastic pollution.
Other ocean garbage patches have since been discovered in the North Pacific, South Pacific, South Atlantic and Indian oceans.
Helm and her colleagues wondered if neuston and plastic may congregate in other ocean garbage patches, since the same swirling ocean currents that draw in floating plastic might also collect floating life.
To explore this idea, they analysed 22 water samples collected by a sailing crew that accompanied long-distance swimmer as he swam through the North Pacific Garbage Patch 鈥� also known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch 鈥� to raise awareness of plastic pollution in 2019.
They found some of the highest-ever recorded concentrations of neuston in samples taken from the centre of the patch. They were about 10 times higher than the neuston concentrations in samples taken from the edge and outside the garbage patch.
There was also a strong relationship between neuston and plastic abundance in the samples, supporting the idea that they are pushed around by the same ocean forces, says Helm.
This could be problematic for sea birds, turtles and other animals that feed on neuston, since they may simultaneously swallow large amounts of plastic, she says.
The findings also suggest that initiatives like The Ocean Cleanup 鈥� which is investigating using nets and booms to clean up plastic pollution 鈥� could endanger neuston, says Helm. 鈥淎nything you do that indiscriminately collects everything at the ocean surface is going to impact all the life that鈥檚 at the ocean surface,鈥� she says.
Helm and her colleagues now hope to sample other ocean garbage patches to see if they are also rich in neuston. 鈥淭he sad thing is that the plastics have become all people have been looking for, but we shouldn鈥檛 forget about the life that might be there too,鈥� she says.
Reference: bioRxiv,听
