Environment
Plastic Bag Found in the Deepest Ocean Trench
Pollution found even 36,000 feet below the surface.
The deepest point in the ocean, the Mariana Trench, is 36,000 feet below the surface and located in a remote part of the Pacific ocean, yet scientists still found a plastic bag at the bottom.
They spotted the trash while looking through photos and videos of 5,010 dives in the last 30 years, a collection called the Deep-Sea Debris Database.
Scientists classified all the liter they saw in the collection and also found rubber, metal, wood, and cloth, but plastic was by far the most prevalent.
Although dark and remote, the Mariana Trench is full of life that can be harmed by pollution, as “17 percent of the images of plastic logged in the database showed interactions of some kind with marine life, like animals becoming entangled in the debris,” National Geographic reported.
Plastic has recently become more concerning. Single-plastics, such as a plastic water bottle, are found worldwide and take centuries to break down naturally, having a deep impact on the environment.
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