garbage patch

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Surprising Species Are Finding Home in Pacific Garbage Patch

Coastal creatures are thriving far from their native homes, with unknown consequences

(Newser) - Communities of coastal creatures are thriving far from home in the swirling trash soup that is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch . Researchers have found dozens of creatures normally found near coasts—including crustaceans, sea anemones, mollusks, and worms—surviving and reproducing on plastic waste in the huge patch between Hawaii...

Big Stink: Great Garbage Patch's Size Exaggerated

Think 1% the size of Texas, not twice as big

(Newser) - The "Great Pacific Garbage Patch" is often said to be twice the size of Texas—but that and other scary-sounding claims are “grossly exaggerated,” some scientists are now insisting. A new study shows the plastic waste patch is actually 200 times smaller than previously claimed when comparing...

Mystery Swirls Around Atlantic Garbage Patch

It's just not growing, say scientists

(Newser) - Though you may be more familiar with its more famous cousin, the Texas-size Great Pacific Garbage Patch, there does indeed exist a mass of tiny plastic pieces in the Atlantic. But the North Atlantic Gyre is turning out to be the more mysterious of the two: A two-decades-long study released...

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