In September 2009, during the Midway Journey expedition, Jan Vozenilek captured what to our knowledge is the first footage of fish eating plastic bits floating on the surface of the ocean.

Studies conducted by the Algalita Marine Research Foundation have demonstrated that several types of fish are regularly eating pieces of plastic they mistake for food.  At the same time, Japanese scientists (Mato, Isobe, Takada, Kahnehiro, Ohtake, and Kaminuma)  have released studies indicating that plastics in the marine environment are accumulators of hydrophobic pollutants like DDT, an extremely toxic pesticide,  and PCB’s -dangerous persistent organic pollutants. These can be up to one million times more concentrated on the surface of these bits of plastic than they are in the ambient sea water.

One thing is clear: plastics in the ocean have become a vehicle for dangerous toxic chemicals to enter the food chain we depend upon. If fish are eating this we are too.