THE GREAT PACIFIC GARBAGE PATCH By Laura Perdew Content Consultant Dr Angelicque Angel White Associate Professor CEOAS Oregon State University Essential Library An Imprint of Abdo Publishing abdopublishing com ECOLOGICAL DISASTERS
Captain Charles Moore has spent countless hours collecting plastic samples in the waters of the North Pacific Ocean
Chapter ONE THE GREAT PACIFIC GARBAGE PATCH On an August day in 1997 Captain Charles Moore was sailing the Pacific Ocean from Hawaii to California through a generally calm weather system called the North Pacific subtropical high By taking this route he hoped to avoid dangerous weather farther south Moore had recently completed a transpacific race and was returning to California As he sailed across the sea he expected calm winds and a glassy surface Instead he noticed a bit of trash He didn’t think much of it until he saw another piece of trash And then he saw even more trash 5
