The real problem is that the plastic isn't just large pieces of debris like bottles and discarded fishing nets.

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. More than 90 percent of the plastics in the GPGP are microplastics. Azure waves lapping against huge piles of built-up junk.

The open ocean has new inhabitants ...

You've probably seen the photos: a sea turtle trapped in fishing line, a plastic bottle wedged in coral, and shorelines littered with packaging. That's not some distant problem. The same waste tossed ...

SAN FRANCISCO -- Scientists say a new study is now revealing that one of the largest patches of pollution on the planet is also teaming with life. And they're trying to learn what it means for the ...

Scientists from UCSD have returned from their trip to the Northern Pacific and have brought back tales, pictures and more than 100 samples from a blob of degraded plastic that is reportedly the size ...

For this second installment of the Sea Camp series, we explore the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It's the largest of five gigantic garbage patches... Do you clean up ocean trash if it's part of a ...

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American Researchers have been visiting locations in ...