Via The Los Angeles Times: Researchers find plastic in more than 9% of fish in northern Pacific Ocean


Scripps scientists find plastic in 9.2% of lanternfish collected. The small fish are commonly eaten by larger species, and the plastic could end up in the food chain.


Ocean survey

Two lanternfish are surrounded by bits of plastic collected during survey.
(Jim Leichter / Scripps Institution of Oceanography)


Southern California researchers found plastic in nearly 1 in 10 small fish collected in the Pacific Ocean in the latest study to call attention to floating marine debris entering the food chain.

The study published this week by scientists at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego estimated that fish in the middle depths of the northern Pacific Ocean are ingesting as much as 24,000 tons of plastic each year.

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