Microplastics discovered in 'extreme' concentrations in the North Atlantic

By Arwa Damon and Brice Laine, CNN August 20, 2019

Sargasso Sea (CNN)Within the Atlantic Ocean is the world's only sea without shores, its borders defined by the currents of the North Atlantic gyre. The Sargasso Sea takes its name from sargassum, a free-floating golden brown seaweed that is a haven for hatchling sea turtles and hundreds of other marine species who use it to feed, grow and hide from predators. But the sargassum is now home to objects wholly unnatural too.

Caught up in the swirling gyre is a growing collection of human waste: trash from countries that border the Atlantic, from the west coast of Africa to the east coast of the US, slowly breaking up on its long journey into microplastics that end up in the gills and stomachs of aquatic animals.

We joined a Greenpeace expedition to the Sargasso where scientists were studying plastic pollution and turtle habitats. Our mission was to get a better understanding of what lives out on the sargassum ecosystem, what is threatening it, and how that may impact us.

See Full Article at Source: https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2019/08/19/world/microplastics-sargasso-sea-north-atlantic-intl/index.html?fbclid=IwAR1uXxtDsF1iCG2Ho3Arh3tkNgGJ1KDMQVa0wwqfUVY8uuOkl2pMLMad-rs