Barry Rosenthal started collecting plastic garbage on a New York ... little in common beyond their shades of white—and their slow degradation by ocean waves, harsh sunlight, sand, and salt.

They were washed in with the tide, most likely from China or the US, thousands of miles away -- part of an enormous plastic garbage patch, spinning in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, which you ...

Billions of pounds of plastic can be found in swirling convergences that make up about 40 percent of the world's ocean surfaces. At current rates plastic is expected to outweigh all the fish in the ...

marine-plastic-ocean-fish-microplasticThe naturally oily ... and an orange sea star just emerging from its filmy floating larval stage. The white chip and the fraying red fiber on the right ...