Cetacean sightings within the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

• Main Authors: Gibbs, Susan E., Salgado Kent, Chandra P., Slat, Boyan, Morales, Damien, Fouda, Leila, Reisser, Julia
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia 2019
• Subjects: Marine debris; Marine mammals; Plastic pollution; Aerial survey; Life Sciences; Pacific; Hercules; baleen whales
• Online Access: https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ecuworkspost2013/6563; https://ro.ecu.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=7568&context=ecuworkspost2013

Here, we report cetacean sightings made within a major oceanic accumulation zone for plastics, often referred to as the ‘Great Pacific Garbage Patch’ (GPGP). These cetacean records occurred in October 2016 and were made by sensors and trained observers aboard a Hercules C-130 aircraft surveying the...