Plastic ingestion by planktivorous fishes in the North Pacific Central Gyre.

Plastic for dinner? Observations of frequent debris ingestion by pelagic predatory fishes from the central North Pacific

There have been numerous reports of plastic debris accumulation in surface waters of the central North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. Further, incidences have been reported of plastic ingestion by different marine organisms, including seabirds and small planktivorous fishes. Diet studies (2007 to 2012) of predatory pelagic fishes from this general region showed repeat observations of anthropogenic m...

Gooseneck barnacles (Lepas spp.) ingest microplastic debris in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre

Substantial quantities of small plastic particles, termed "microplastic," have been found in many areas of the world ocean, and have accumulated in particularly high densities on the surface of the subtropical gyres. While plastic debris has been documented on the surface of the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre (NPSG) since the early 1970s, the ecological implications remain poorly understood. Or...

A comparison of plastic and plankton in the north Pacific central gyre.

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 in surface waters under the central atmospheric high-pressure cells of the North Pacific Ocean. Neuston samples were collected at 11 random sites, using a manta trawl lined with 333 u mesh. The abundance and mass of neustoni...

A Westward-Intensified Decadal Change in the North Pacific Thermocline and Gyre-Scale Circulation

From the early 1970s to the mid-1980s, the main thermocline of the subarctic gyre of the North Pacific Ocean shoaled with temperatures at 200–400-m depth cooling by 18–48C over the region. The gyre-scale structure of the shoaling is quasi-stationary and intensified in the western part of the basin north of 308N, suggesting concurrent changes in gyre-scale transport. A similar quasi-stationary c...

Distribution and Ecological Consequences of Plastic Debris in the North Pacific Gyre