Basura.....

Garbage.... I hate it! This is my rant for the day. As we got closer to Mazatlan, we started seeing more garbage floating on the water.

Plastics are the worst. They do not degrade easily and impacts are known to almost 300 species of sea life, there are probably many more. Sea turtles mistake clear plastic bags for jellyfish. Birds swoop down and swallow indigestible shards of plastic and feed thier young the plastic which chokes them or cannot be ingested. The petroleum-based plastics take decades to break down, and as long as they float on the ocean's surface, they can appear as feeding grounds. The animals die because the plastic fills thier stomachs, it does not pass easily and they literally starve to death. They also become entangled, cannot fly or slowly choke.The plastics absorb and release various chemicals creating a stew that will kill wildlife as well. Plankton eat it, fish eat plankton, we eat fish.... get the picture?

There is a new continent forming way out in the South Pacific between San Francsico and Hawaii that has become known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It is a floating island, twice the size of Texas and growing that is made of 80% plastic. It has been formed by an ocean current called the North Pacific Gyre. The surface winds blow the garbage to this central area where the island is forming. 80% is estimated to come from land and 20% from ships at sea.

http://www.vbs.tv/video.php?id=1485308505

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_Garbage_Patch