Hello to all the ocean enthusiasts! Can you imagine entering the middle of the Pacific Ocean and there lies a giant swirling mass of waste? This is known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch—far from being a paradise; it is a mixture of plastic debris floating in slow current. Researchers went there expecting to find dead waste... and found something interesting instead. Small oceanic creatures found a home among the debris.

For example, researchers discovered barnacles, crabs, and sea anemones growing on the debris as well as amphipods. After collecting 105 large plastic objects from the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre, many of these samples contained life. There were 46 species of marine organisms living on the plastic objects. The majority of the organisms do not live in the open ocean but rather are from coastal areas, e.g. Japan, which is several thousand miles away.

Centralized Trash Trap: The North Pacific Subtropical Gyre is a large area in the Ocean where many small bits of plastic circulate freely within a huge whirlpool created by slow-moving surface ocean currents.

Junk-inhabited Seas: At least 105 large plastic objects were collected with a number of them having a host or were inhabited by 46 marine species, including crabs, barnacles and anemone and the most abundant taxa, amphipods.

Coastal Invasive Species: Very few of the above-mentioned species are native to the ocean. Most originated from man-made structures in close proximity to rocky shorelines; the majority of these sites were located within thousands of kilometers of Japan.

Why Now? The open ocean does not have a lot of substrate (the surfaces to which organisms attach). Plastic provides surfaces, shade and structural support (particularly for endless ropes and nets).

Permanent Residents: Most females attached to these large objects are carrying eggs, while there are many individuals that are using this substrate for breeding and forming small communities on floating rafts.

Travel Buddies: Ocean debris transports organisms across Oceans; in this study, the debris was the result of both tsunami debris and daily "trash" produced within East Asia.

Neopelagic Ecology: The influx of this wave of organisms into the Ocean from the Coastal (coastal) environment is creating a new Neopelagic Ecosystem. The potential for created new food webs and competition exists!

The Plastic Paradox: Plastic remains toxic. The fact that this research has provided evidence of the plastic "Paradox' may be an indicator of potential changes to the quality of the oceans due to human activity and the associated products. What do you think?

The theory has always been that marine organisms from coastal environments would not survive in the open ocean, because they have no solid rock to cling to, there are continuous waves crashing down on them, and food is scarce. We now know that these organisms found a way to live in the open ocean due to the presence of floating plastic objects. Plastic provides an environment for marine organisms to cling to, provide shade, and give organisms a place to reproduce. Some of these objects have been in the ocean for a number of years. Although a number of the objects are becoming weaker due to damage from the sun and salt, they are still providing a habitat for marine organisms. There are male and female marine organisms living in the same location (the raft) and are spawning and supporting their young together.