Author: Becky Ferreira
Marine species that are normally found close to shore have been surviving for years in the open ocean on rafts made of plastic waste, reports a new study. The discovery exposes novel ecosystems that are now emerging due to widespread human pollution. A surprising variety of coastal animals—including mollusks, anemones, and crustaceans—were found living, and even reproducing, on floating plastic debris in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, an ocean gyre between Hawaii and California that contains an estimated 80,000 tons of accumulated trash, according to the new research.