--- title: "The Great Pacific Garbage Patch Is Teeming With Trash Life, Scientists Find" description: "The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is now so permanent and huge that living beings are migrating from thousands of miles away to get in on the plastic action." date: "2023-04-17" modified: "2023-04-17" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/great-pacific-garbage-patch-life" categories: - "Science & Energy" tags: - "great pacific garbage patch" - "ocean life" - "plastics" - "the digest" --- # The Great Pacific Garbage Patch Is Teeming With Trash Life, Scientists Find ![The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is now so permanent and huge that living beings are migrating from thousands of miles away to get in on the plastic action.]() *\Image: The Ocean Cleanup\* ## True Life Scientists have found that the [Great Pacific Garbage Patch]() is absolutely teeming with life. Even coastal species have made it their new home despite the fact that the patch is located in the middle of the Pacific. A [new study]() published in the journal *Nature Ecology & Evolution* reveals that dozens of species of coastal invertebrates have managed not only to survive while clutching to the plastic, but are also *reproducing* around it, too. To get to this stunning finding, the team behind the paper partnered with [The Ocean Cleanup]() to fish more than 100 pieces of plastic from the giant trash vortex between November 2018 and January 2019. On the debris, they discovered close to 500 ocean-dwelling invertebrate organisms that represent 46 different species. ## Great Migration Of those species, 80 percent were typically found in coastal waters. It's an astonishing conclusion, given the fact that the Garbage Patch is over a thousand miles away from the closest shore. "It was surprising to see how frequent the coastal species were," lead author Linsey Haram, a National Institute of Food and Agriculture science fellow, [told *CNN*](). "They were on 70 percent of the debris that we found." While these are certainly fascinating findings, they also present more questions than answers. "It’s hard to know exactly what’s going on," Haram continued, "but we have seen evidence of some of the coastal anemones eating open ocean species, so we know there is some predation going on between the two communities." As with the introduction of any new species, there are likely to be more long-term changes as the trash flotilla continues to grow — but at the very least we're learning more about the way life interacts with human-made waste and how it's adjusting to its unusual new home. **More on our trash world:** [*Alarmed Scientists Discover “Terrifying” Rocks Made of Plastic Trash on Remote Island*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()