The spiral of marine pollution
North Pacific Gyre Animation

A giant whirlpool trapping debris
In oceanography, a gyre is a large rotating ocean current with a relatively stable center. The North Pacific Gyre works in a clockwise circular pattern. The gyre's circular and spiraling motion draws natural debris and anthropogenic waste into its path and towards its center. Therefore, it is also known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch or the Great Pacific Garbage Dump. The above picture shows an installation at the Monterey Bay Aquarium that depicts how debris is trashing up the gyre ecosystem. If you watch closely you will see plastic items such as forks, spoons, knives, eyeglass frames and six pack rings on their path to marine pollution. This waste affects the lifes of migrating seabirds, sea turtles, whales and other animals, which feed in the rich waters of the dynamic North Pacific.
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More to learn & explore
▶ The North Pacific Gyre: 100 Million Tons of Garbage and Growing
▶ Great Pacific Garbage Patch
▶ Busy Cannery Row
▶ Monterey's McAbee Beach: Fishermen at the wall