Monterey Bay Aquarium documents widespread ocean trash

A new study shows trash of all kinds is accumulating in the deep oceans, according to a press release from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.

Scientists from MBARI went through 22 years of underwater videos collected for research.  Videos came from manned dives and ROV missions as deep as 4,000 meters.

Researchers counted a total of 1,500 observations of debris in sites from Vancouver to Hawaii. In the Monterey Bay alone, they documented 1,150 pieces of debris from dive videos.

About one third of documented debris was plastic. More than half of the plastic debris was plastic bags. Metal was the second most present, with the majority being cans.

Click here to read the full study free.

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Top image: A discarded potato chip bag on the ocean floor captured by MBARI cameras (Credit: MBARI)