Plastic floats. That’s how it travels so far and wide in our oceans which is really shame because it’s so terrible for them. But that doesn’t mean that it all stays on the top. Plastic waste has been found in the deep trenches of the oceans which is bad news.
On a recent dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the deepest place in the Pacific Ocean, divers found a plastic bag and candy wrappers. That’s not a lot of trash, it’s nothing compared to the floating island of garbage that exists on the surface, but finding it in such an isolated place really highlights how far the problem has spread.
Scientists will test sea life at that depth to see if they contain microplastics to further understand the span of the issue. Although this is awful news, it should serve as reminder of the need to be mindful with our use of plastics and the waste they cause.