Ocean of Rubbish

16 June 2010 - The north Atlantic Ocean is looking more like a rubbish bin, with plastic and polystyrene bags spreading far and wide, according to French explorers just back from 8 months at sea. The situation was in particular bad in the Sargasso Sea around Bermuda. The Sargasso Sea, where currents between Florida and Bermuda converge, is named for a brown seaweed - sargassum - that proliferates on its surface, entrapping any floating trash. "Ninety-five percent of the stuff is plastics, from toothpaste tubes to aerosol containers and water bottles," one of the explorers said. Earlier researchers claimed that some 100 million tonnes of trash is floating between Hawaii and Japan. These days, we (rightfully) talk a lot about the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. However, we should reflect on the pollution of our oceans and seas on a much bigger scale. Otherwise we might drown in an ocean of rubbish.