The search for signs of Flight 370 has been frustrating for rescue workers as objects spotted from planes in the Indian Ocean usually turns out to be nothing but garbage floating in the water, according to the Associated Press.
Not only is the trash a distraction for air and sea search crews, who are busy looking for debris from the Malaysia Airlines flight that disappeared on March 8, but it also indicates a bigger problem in the world's oceans today.
"The ocean is like a plastic soup, bulked up with the croutons of these larger items," said Los Angeles captain Charles Moore, an environmental advocate credited with bringing attention to an ocean gyre between Hawaii and California known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, according to AP.
Ocean's around the world have four or more of these flotsam-collecting "vortexes," according to Moore.
"It's like a toilet bowl that swirls but doesn't flush," said Moore.
These garbage patches are far from a typical city dump however. Most of the trash can't even be seen since it's composed of small bits of plastic "bobbing" directly below the surface, according to AP.
Larger items in these locations are usually plastic and are often fishing-related, Moore said.
Other items he has come across includes a toilet seat, light bulbs, and a refrigerator with defrosted orange juice.
Seattle oceanographer Curtis Ebbesmeyer, who has been researching the phenomena of ocean debris for a number of years, said there "are smaller collections of garbage that collect within the gyres," according to AP.
"If you go into a house you'll find dust bunnies," said Ebbesmeyer. "The ocean has a mass of dust bunnies, each moving about 10 miles a day."
Ebbesmeyer said he is intrigued by what happens to the trash that emits from hundreds of shipping containers lost overboard from cargo ships annually.
He confirmed that there is one that keeps spewing out Lego pieces onto the beaches of Cornwall, England, according to AP. Others include one spills 2,000 computer monitors, and one that released thousands of pairs of Nike sneakers.
The containers themselves can often become hazardous, as they just float around for months.
Trash can also reach the ocean after being washed down by rivers, or swept up in tsunamis, Ebbesmeyer confirmed.
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