Marine Debris by

• Main Authors: Nikolai Maximenko, Jan Hafner, The “dirtiest Beach
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Pacific; South Point; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.368.5790; http://iprc.soest.hawaii.edu/news/marine_and_tsunami_debris/Marine_Debris_IPRC_Climate_Stories.pdf

on Earth” Five large garbage patches in the world ocean are predicted by Nikolai Maximenko’s surface current model (IPRC Climate, vol. 8, no. 2). The North Atlantic and North Pacific patches have already been found and are making news. The debris from the North Pacific Patch occasionally escapes and the model shows it floats towards the Hawaiian Islands, making windward shores of the islands trashcans for marine debris. Kamilo Beach near South Point on the Big Island is arguably the most famous beach for the enormous amount of marine debris sweeping up on it. A BBC video labeled it as “The Dirtiest Beach in the World. ” The beach is unusual, however, in that it lies not on the windward side of the island, but at its southern tip. Curious about why this beach is so favored by marine garbage and what currents take it to this unusual location, Maximenko put together a team