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About the Authors:
Marcus Eriksen
* E-mail: [email protected]
Affiliation: Five Gyres Institute, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
Laurent C. M. Lebreton
Affiliation: Dumpark Data Science, Wellington, New Zealand
Henry S. Carson
Affiliations Marine Science Department, University of Hawaii at Hilo, Hilo, Hawaii, United States of America, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Olympia, Washington, United States of America
Martin Thiel
Affiliations Facultad Ciencias del Mar, Universidad Católica del Norte, Coquimbo, Chile, Millennium Nucleus Ecology and Sustainable Management of Oceanic Island (ESMOI), Coquimbo, Chile, Centro de Estudios Avanzados en Zonas Áridas (CEAZA), Coquimbo, Chile
Charles J. Moore
Affiliation: Algalita Marine Research and Education, Long Beach, California, United States of America
Jose C. Borerro
Affiliation: eCoast Limited, Raglan, New Zealand
Francois Galgani
Affiliation: Departement Océanographie et Dynamique des Ecosystemes, Institut français de recherche pour l′exploitation de la mer (Ifremer), Bastia, Corsica, France
Peter G. Ryan
Affiliation: Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa
Julia Reisser
Affiliation: School of Environmental Systems Engineering and Oceans Institute, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Perth, Australia
Introduction
Plastic pollution is globally distributed across all oceans due to its properties of buoyancy and durability, and the sorption of toxicants to plastic while traveling through the environment [1], [2], have led some researchers to claim that synthetic polymers in the ocean should be regarded as hazardous waste [3]. Through photodegradation and other weathering processes, plastics fragment and disperse in the ocean [4], [5], converging in the subtropical gyres [6]–[9]. Generation and accumulation of plastic pollution also occurs in closed bays, gulfs and seas surrounded by densely populated coastlines and watersheds [10]–[13].
The impact of plastic pollution through ingestion and entanglement of marine fauna, ranging from zooplankton to cetaceans, seabirds and marine reptiles, are well documented [14]. Adsorption of persistent organic pollutants onto plastic and their transfer into the tissues and organs through ingestion [15] is impacting marine megafauna [16] as well as lower trophic-level organisms [17], [18] and their predators [19], [20]. These impacts are further exacerbated by the persistence of floating plastics, ranging from resin pellets to large derelict nets, docks and boats that float across oceans and transport microbial communities [21], algae, invertebrates, and fish [22] to non-native regions [23], providing further rationale to...