
Millbrook Press. 2014
Grades 4 thru high school
I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
Located in the Pacific Ocean, 1,000
miles out to sea between San Francisco and Japan is the North Pacific Central
Gyre, which covers an area three times bigger than the United States. Floating
within this “oceanic desert” is the largest accumulation of trash, mostly
plastic in the world. This massive accumulation of plastic which is pushed together by
ocean currents is called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and scientists
estimate the size is two times bigger than the state of Texas. It was first
discovered in 1997 by racing boat captain, Charles Moore,
He found abandoned fishing nets,
plastic bottles, bottle caps, toothbrushes, containers, boxes, and tiny pieces
of plastic. The litter came from rivers and streams, from people visiting the
beach or riding on ships who did not properly dispose of their plastic.
All this plastic presents hazards not only to marine life, but also the fishing and tourist industry. According to
Greenpeace, of the more than 200 billion pounds of plastic the world produces
each year, about 10 percent ends up in the ocean.
In Plastic, Ahoy! author Patricia Newman tags along with three scientists, Miriam Goldstein, Chelsea Rochman, and Darcy Taniguchi as they travel more than 1,000 miles into open water, off the
coast of California to investigate the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. For three weeks, as part of the Scripps Environmental Accumulation of Plastics
Expedition (SEAPLEX), they will conduct tests to try and answer some big questions: How
much plastic is in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch? Are fish eating the plastic? Are the chemicals used to make plastics
poisoning the water? Are any animals
and plants living on the floating plastic? The process to find the answers to
these questions and more make for exciting reading.
Complementing the easy to understand
text are stunning photos snapped by professional underwater photographer and
filmmaker, Annie Crawley. The pictures are well captioned and capture how
intertwined plastics have become with marine life. Their students uncovered a
sobering fact: The open ocean is no longer a wild place untouched by humans.
At 1,000 miles (1,600 km) from land, SEAPLEX scientists saw evidence of human
pollution in almost every net tow. Miriam found that a single piece of plastic
is home to several flying fish eggs. Mussels, crabs, and sea anemones live on one piece of discarded rope.
Back matter includes source notes,
glossary, books and websites for further reading, and index.
Earth Day is right around the corner (April 22). Include Plastic, Ahoy! in any display about the environment, oceans, and pair it with Tracking Trash by Loree Griffin Burns, another excellent book about disturbing effects of trash in our oceans.
To grab students attention, watch this Great Pacific Garbage Patch Awareness Video.
After reading Plastic, Ahoy! I wonder
why we can’t scoop up all that plastic in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and take
it to a recycling center.
Plastic is definitely a problem - in the ocean and on land. Thanks for this great review... this book is in my "to review" basket.
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