#tfw when a rockfish gives you the stinkeye. 😐️
Surprisingly large amounts of discarded trash end up in the ocean. Plastic bags, aluminum cans, and fishing debris not only clutter our beaches but also accumulate in open-ocean areas and the deep sea.
The impacts of deep-sea trash often last for years. Near-freezing water, lack of sunlight, and low oxygen concentrations discourage the growth of bacteria and other organisms that can break down debris. Under these conditions, a plastic bag or soda can might persist for decades.
During research expeditions, our team occasionally retrieves trash items from the deep sea. But removing every piece of debris we come across on a large scale is prohibitively expensive and often physically impossible (as in the case of larger objects like this metal sheet).