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Scientists develop forecast for location of North Pacific Garbage Patch

Over 97,000 pounds of marine debris, primarily derelict fishing gear, removed from the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument.
James Morioka/PMDP
/
Papahānaumokuākea Marine Debris Project
FILE - Marine debris removed from the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument.

Ever find trash on the beach and wonder where it comes from? There's a good chance it came from a large concentration of floating marine debris called the North Pacific Garbage Patch.

Every year, several tons of that debris, which consists mainly of different kinds of plastic and fishing gear, end up on Hawaiʻi's shores.

Now, scientists have developed a model that tracks and forecasts the location of the watery trash heap as it floats in the Pacific between Hawaiʻi and the West Coast.

The scientific model was developed by the International Pacific Research Center, part of the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa’s School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology.

The Center for Marine Debris Research has launched a website using the model that allows people to see the daily forecasts of the garbage patch's location.

The work is meant to assist marine debris cleanup efforts throughout the Hawaiian Island chain.

The conservation group Papahānaumokuākea Marine Debris Project recently announced that they had removed 1 million pounds of trash from the reef and shoreline within the nearly 600,000-square-mile Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument.

Funding for the project comes from the National Sea Grant College Program.

A map of the debris concentration in the North Pacific Garbage Patch from Dec. 23, 2024.
International Pacific Research Center
/
Center for Marine Debris Research
A map of the debris concentration in the North Pacific Garbage Patch from Dec. 23, 2024.

Savannah Harriman-Pote is the energy and climate change reporter. She is also the lead producer of HPR's "This Is Our Hawaiʻi" podcast. Contact her at sharrimanpote@hawaiipublicradio.org.
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