In any square mile of ocean, there are some 46,000 pieces of plastic, a great and growing testament to people on ship and shore so spectacularly stupid or irresponsible that they would rather just chuck something into the ocean than make the small effort the recycling now takes. Every year, this “ocean plastic” kills one million sea birds and 100,000 sharks, turtles, dolphins, and whales. Every year, ocean plastic rises a little higher in the food chain. It’s destination: our dinner plates.

Finally, the planet decided to do something about it, patiently sweeping garbage together into the creation of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP), an accumulation of crap rotating endlessly out there in the North Pacific.

And there it sits, a floating garbage dump visible even from outer space. Maybe this is an ocean’s idea of accusation. One piece of litter on the high seas doesn’t amount to much, but put it all together and you’ve got one really big ecological “j’accuse.”

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