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In the broad expanse of the northern Pacific Ocean, there exists the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre, a slowly moving, clockwise spiral of currents created by a high-pressure system of air currents. The area is an oceanic desert, filled with tiny phytoplankton but few big fish or mammals.
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science.howstuffworks.com/great-pacific-garbage-patch.h...
science.howstuffworks.com/great-pacific-garbage-patch.htm
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Plastic trash and other flotsam that is either directly thrown or washed by rivers into the North Pacific, is swept up by the currents of a gigantic swirling vortex called the North Pacific Gyre.
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oceans.greenpeace.org/en/the-expedition/news/trashing-o...
oceans.greenpeace.org/en/the-expedition/news/trashing-our-oceans/ocean_pollution_animation
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Oceanic gyre - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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An oceanic gyre is any large-scale system of rotating ocean currents, particularly those involved with large wind movements. Gyres are caused by the Coriolis effect; planetary vorticity along with h...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oceanic_gyre
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He had steered his craft into the "North Pacific gyre" – a vortex where the ocean circulates slowly because of little wind and extreme high pressure systems. Usually sailors avoid it.
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www.independent.co.uk/environment/the-worlds-rubbish-du...
www.independent.co.uk/environment/the-worlds-rubbish-dump-a-garbage-tip-that-stretches-from-hawaii-to-japan-778016.html
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A lot of folks over on Digg were very skeptical of the existence of the North Pacific Trash Gyre. They want to know: why are there no photos of floating heaps of trash? ... Now, contrast this with the results of a trawl from the North Pacific Gyre. Here’s the bongo net being hauled up – see how the ocean looks normal?
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theoystersgarter.com/2007/10/23/why-there-are-no-pictur...
theoystersgarter.com/2007/10/23/why-there-are-no-pictures-of-the-north-pacific-trash-gyre/
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And pretty much nowhere is plastic as bad as in the North Pacific gyre. Covering an area the size of Texas, the water in the gyre circulates clockwise in a slow spiral, between California and Hawaii.
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www.divester.com/2006/11/28/north-pacific-gyres-trash-v...
www.divester.com/2006/11/28/north-pacific-gyres-trash-vortex-killing-marine-life/
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The potential for ingestion of plastic particles by open ocean filter feeders was assessed by measuring the relative abundance and mass of neustonic plastic and zooplankton near the central high-pressure area of the North Pacific central gyre. ... FIGURE 1. Location of sampling area in the North Pacific gyre.
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www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Moore-North-Pacific-Central-G...
www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Moore-North-Pacific-Central-Gyre.htm
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Throughout the race our strategy, like that of every other boat in the race, had been mainly to avoid the North Pacific subtropical gyre-the great high-pressure system in the central Pacific Ocean that, most of the time, is centered just north of the racecourse and halfway between Hawaii and the mainland.
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www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Ocean/Moore-Trashed-PacificNo...
www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Ocean/Moore-Trashed-PacificNov03.htm
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The North Pacific gyre is one of five major ocean gyres and it is possible that this Trash Vortex problem is one which is present in other oceans as well.
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www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/oceans/pollu...
www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/oceans/pollution/trash-vortex
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