The Herbert W. Hoover Foundation is a long-time funder of The Pew Charitable Trusts Marine Fellows Program.  Recently, the Herbert W. Hoover Foundation and Pew co-hosted a panel of scientists to discuss the future of coral reefs in Biscayne National Park.

Originally published by The Pew Charitable Trusts on February 15, 2019.  Original article available here.

Evan K. D’Alessandro

Coral scientists and conservationists have reason to be pessimistic. Warming waters, ocean acidification, pollution, disease, and storms have killed 30 to 50 percent of the world’s shallow coral reefs in recent decades.

Yet in December, an infectious optimism could be found among the more than 500 participants at the Reef Futures Symposium in Key Largo, Florida. One possible reason: excitement over the prospect of action to help reefs, despite all the bad news.

For starters, a November report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine outlined 23 strategies to help the world’s remaining reefs survive climate change. Stephen Palumbi, a Stanford University biologist and 2000 Pew marine fellow, was lead author of that report. What’s needed now is a way to test those interventions.

To help with that, The Pew Charitable Trusts and the Herbert W. Hoover Foundation convened a session at Reef Futures to discuss the Biscayne marine region, which stretches from Miami south to the edge of the Florida Keys and, as 2008 Pew marine fellow Andrew Baker said in a Miami Herald op-ed, is primed to become a “a laboratory to discover how to save coral reefs worldwide.”

The Pew Charitable Trusts

One of the interventions from the National Academies report that the group could test is managed relocation—moving corals into cooler environments to buy them time to adapt to warming water. Baker, a professor at the University of Miami, said the Biscayne region is a great place to try the technique because of the huge gradient in water temperature across a small area. Moving corals from south Biscayne Bay just a few miles north, to where average monthly temperatures are lower, could give the corals an extra 20 to 30 years to adjust to warming water, he said.

Another strategy noted in the report is cultivating corals that have a natural genetic tolerance for heat and planting them on dead or dying reefs. Palumbi’s research has shown that there is wide genetic variation in heat tolerance within the species of Pacific coral he studies.

“Using that variation is an opportunity to select corals that may weather future conditions,” Palumbi said.

Evan K. D’Alessandro

Scientists also will need a way to measure the health of corals rather than just waiting to see if they die.

“I want to mooch molecular techniques from medicine to make sure the corals we plant are thriving in their new environment,” said Robert Richmond, director of the Kewalo Marine Laboratory at the University of Hawaii, Manoa and a 2006 Pew marine fellow.

Les Kaufman, a Boston University professor and 1990 Pew marine fellow, is leading another monitoring effort, taking 3D images of the remaining coral colonies in the Biscayne marine region to track growth and mortality with an unprecedented level of detail.

The payoff of all this work is potentially huge, said Michael Beck, a professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz and a 2012 Pew marine fellow. His new research shows that coral reefs in the Biscayne region provide tens of millions of dollars a year in benefits by preventing flood damage during storms.

Reef Futures was sponsored by the Coral Restoration Consortium, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and others. And while none of the attendees claimed that humans can restore the world’s coral reefs to their former glory, many were boisterously enthusiastic about saving what we can of these rainforests of the sea.

Author, Polita Glynn, is a project director for environmental research and science with The Pew Charitable Trusts.

Dr. Neil Hammerschlag’s research is the focus of the following article by Forbes.  The Herbert W. Hoover Foundation has proudly funded Dr. Hammerschlag’s research in the past and continues to do so today.

Originally published by Forbes on February 16, 2019. Original article available here.

The waters surrounding Seal Island in False Bay, South Africa are eerily calm. All you can hear are waves lapping up against your boat, and you can feel a tension in the air as everyone waits for a moment made famous by Shark Week.

Suddenly, there is commotion on one side of the boat as a seal bursts from the watery realm below into the open air, a great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) in hot pursuit right after it. A breach; the legendary “flying” great white sharks of South Africa have struck again. These waters are famous for it, but in 2015 the sightings of these predators began to drop.

“In 2017 and 2018, their numbers reached an all-time low, with great whites completely disappearing from our surveys for weeks and months at a time,” said study lead author Neil Hammerschlag, a research associate professor at the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School and Abess Center for Ecosystem Science & Policy in a press statement. “While the reasons for their decline and disappearance remains unknown, it provided a truly unique opportunity for us to see what happens to an ocean ecosystem following the loss of an apex predator.”

A new 18-year collaborative study between shark researcher Neil Hammerschlag and wildlife naturalist Chris Fallows from Apex Shark Expeditions has documented unexpected consequences following this decline of great white sharks.  “In 18+ years of working at Seal Island, we had never seen sevengill sharks in our surveys,” said co-author Chris Fallows. “Following the disappearance of white sharks in 2017, sevengill began to show up for the first time and have been increasing in number ever since.”

The newly published study found that the disappearance of great whites has led to the emergence of sevengill sharks (Notorynchus cepedianus) and now they dominate this area off South Africa. Sevengill sharks are not uncommon in this region, but they are a top predator from the inshore kelp beds off the coast. Considered a living fossil, sevengill sharks have no equal in the local food web besides the great white shark and orcas (Orcinus orca) that reside here. They closely resemble animals from the Jurassic period, and can easily be told apart from other sharks due to having seven gill slits instead of the typical five in most other sharks.

Since the year 2000, the research team has spent over 8,000 hours observing great whites from boats. During this time, they recorded 6,333 shark sightings, and 8,076 attacks on seals. The data showcased that numbers for great whites were relatively stable for more than a decade, until the start of a decline in 2015. During periods of great white absence in the years 2017 and 2018, the team documented 120 sevengill shark sightings. 

Historically, the only well-known aggregation site for the sevengill sharks in False Bay was located about 18 km away from Seal Island. White sharks infrequently occurred near this sevengill aggregation site off Millers Point, as the dense kelp probably made it hard to hunt prey which sought refuge in the underwater forest. The study suggested that the appearance of sevengill sharks at Seal Island was due to the disappearance of great whites, which allowed these spotted predators to venture into the territory without becoming a meal to the great whites. It also meant there would be no competition for prey! Like other sharks, sevengills feed on fish, seals and even other sharks. The team was able to record a sevengill shark attacking a live Cape fur seal (Arctocephalus pusillus pusillus) in the absence of the white sharks. Interestingly enough, the sevengill shark sightings continued to increase in 2018 as the relative white shark abundance numbers continued to drop.

So just where did the sharks go and why? The reasons for the white shark population declines documented at Seal Island since 2015, combined with the prolonged periods of no great whites in the research surveys during 2017 and 2018, remain unknown. Determining why there is a decline in white shark observation here is “a priority area for future research,” says the study. Some possible theories are that this may be a population-level decline due to over-fishing or habitat loss; other possible theories include a shift in environmental conditions or prey. It could possibly even be linked to the demise of some great white sharks in 2017. Two years ago, the carcasses of five great whites washed ashore along South Africa’s Western Cape province. Ranging in size from nine to 16 feet in length, the two females and three males all had holes between their pectoral (side) fins and their livers missing. The likely culprit? Orcas.

Since 2009 there has been an increase in the frequency of killer whale sightings in False Bay. Several dead sevengill sharks found by scuba divers inside the Table Mountain National Park marine protected area had scientists coming to the conclusion that killer whales were to blame for their deaths, too. Two orcas, nicknamed ‘Port’ and ‘Starboard,’ were sighted near the sevengill aggregation site at the same time these dead sharks popped up. In 2017, it is suspected that these same two killer whales were also responsible for the death of five great white sharks further up the coast in Gansbaai.

But why did these orcas start targeting sharks? The evidence points to the arrival of a different killer whale, which has an appetite for sharks even though this behavior is usually observed offshore. They were all specifically after the sharks’ liver, which accounts for up to a third of the animal’s weight and is full of oily fat, a nutrient that orcas love. According to locals in South Africa, the shark numbers just haven’t been the same since the whales moved in.

There are substantial gaps in our understanding of these orca-shark relationships, as well as the relationship sharks have with one another and their environment. It remains unknown if and when the white sharks may return to their historical numbers in this famous part of the world. The study, which can be read here, has provided new insights into the multitude of ways that the loss of an apex predator can alter a marine ecosystem.

The waters surrounding Seal Island in False Bay, South Africa are eerily calm… there are no great white sharks flying today.

Originally published by The Conversation, Environment + Energy Section, on January 1, 2019. Original article available here. 

Our beaches are our summer playgrounds, yet beach litter and marine debris injures one-fifth of beach users, particularly children and older people.

Our research, published in the journal Science of the Total Environment, found more than 7,800 injuries on New Zealand beaches each year – in 2016, some 595 of them were related to beach litter. The most common injuries caused by litter were punctures and cuts, but they also included fractured limbs, burns, head trauma, and even blindness.

Children under 14 suffered 31% of all beach litter injuries, and were injured by beach litter at twice the rate compared with other locations in New Zealand. Beach litter injury claims exceeded NZ$325,000 in 2016, representing a growing proportion of all beach injury claims. Beach injury claims changed from 1.2% of the total in 2007 to 2.9% in 2016.

Our study relied on reported injury insurance claims in New Zealand, and thus probably underestimates the true injury rate, particularly for minor wounds. Our 2016 survey of beachgoers in Tasmania found that 21.6% of them had been injured by beach litter at any time previously – even on the island state’s most picturesque beaches. Alarmingly, most beach users in the Tasmanian survey did not consider beach litter an injury risk, despite the high rate of self-reported injuries.

Awash with danger

As more debris washes ashore and our recreational use of our coasts increases, it is more likely than ever before that we will encounter beach litter, even on remote and “pristine” beaches.

Global studies have found up to 15 items of debris per square metre of beach, even in remote locations. On Henderson Island – a supposedly pristine South Pacific outpost miles from anywhere – some 3,570 new pieces of litter arrive every day on one beach alone.

Beach litter typically includes a huge range of items, such as:

• broken glass
• sharp and rusted metal such as car bodies, food cans, fish hooks, and barbed wire
• flammable or toxic materials such as cigarette lighters, flares, ammunition and explosives, and vessels containing chemicals or rotten food
• sanitary and medical waste such as used syringes, dirty nappies, condoms, tampons and sanitary pads
• bagged and unbagged dog faeces and dead domestic animals.

The health hazards posed by beach litter include choking or ingesting poisons (particularly for young children), exposure to toxic chemicals, tripping, punctures and cuts, burns, explosions, and exposure to disease.

Degrading plastic can also produce toxins that contaminate seafood, potentially entering human or ecological food chains.

Rubbish knowledge

Despite the potential severity of these hazards our understanding and study of human health impacts from beach litter is poor. We know more about the impacts of beach litter and marine debris on wildlife than on humans.

Two of our previous studies in Australia and New Zealand have found beach litter that can cause punctures and cuts at densities 227 items per 100 square metres of beach, and choking hazards at densities of 153 items per 100 square metres of beach. These exposures to beach litter hazards in Australia and New Zealand may be 50% higher than global averages (based on preliminary data).

Even “clean” beaches can be hazardous, and may even increase the likelihood of injury. Visitors to a recently cleaned or supposedly “pristine” beach may be less vigilant for hazards. What’s more, European studies have found that actively cleaned beaches can still have hazardous debris items.

The risk of injury will continue to increase without concerted efforts to prevent addition of new debris and the active removal of existing rubbish. Besides watching where we tread when at the beach and participating in beach cleanups, we also need to make sure we deal with rubbish thoughtfully, so litter doesn’t end up there in the first place.

Photo by Lisa Mullins. Jill Ryan produced and edited this interview for broadcast. Jackson Cote adapted it for web. This segment aired on January 2, 2019 on Here & Now, WBUR. Original article available here. 

As the government shutdown stretches deeper into the new year, national parks across the country are seeing the impact.

Ruth Gates was a champion of corals and a longtime partner of the Herbert W. Hoover Foundation.  Her contributions to marine science will be felt for decades to come and the Foundation is proud to have supported her research.  We, along with the scientific community and her friends and family, mourn her loss.

Original article can be found at: www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/10/optimist-who-believed-saving-corals/574240/

By Ed Young

Ruth Gates, who died Thursday, October 25, 2018 at age 56, was known as much for her laugh as for her science. She laughed easily, loudly, and infectiously. When she first snorkeled around Heron Island, in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, she reportedly laughed so loudly that boat drivers could hear her from the surface. “Laughing even underwater—that’s Ruth,” says Tracy Ainsworth, a close friend and coral scientist at The University of New South Wales at Sydney. “She was so thrilled by the reef that she couldn’t contain her joy.”

When Andreas Fath decided to conduct a survey to see what contaminants were lurking in the Tennessee River, he wanted to do it in a way that would get attention.

“If you want to reach people, I’ve noticed that it’s better to do something crazy”, says the German professor of medical and life science from Furtwangen University.

Fath combined his two passions—”long-distance swimming and chemical research”—to swim the 1,049-kilometre Tennessee River over the course of 34 days last summer. It was inspired by a similar swim through the Rhine River in Germany he completed in 2014. Along the way he took water samples, and what he found doesn’t bode well for the ecologically rich and biodiverse Tennessee River.

After conducting a lab analysis on the samples with the University of Georgia River Basin Center and a host of other conservation and nature groups, Fath and his research team revealed Wednesday just how much human activities are impacting the river.

The most surprising find? A high abundance of microplastics.

The microscopic pieces of plastic are produced either purposefully in products like exfoliating washes (a practice banned by the Obama administration in 2015) or are the result of the breakdown of larger plastic products over time.

DANGERS OF MICROPLASTICS

Microplastics have been widely documented in ocean marine environments. They are thought to last for hundreds of years, they’re hard to spot—and thus hard to clean up—and studies are increasingly showing how dangerous they are to marine life. As various fish and plankton consume microplastic, it builds up in the food chain after larger predators chomp down on smaller marine life. The pollutants may even show up on our dinner plate, in the bellies and meat of the fish we consume.

Rivers are known to contribute to the ocean plastic pollution crisis, sweeping plastic litter out to sea. But few studies in the US have looked at the presence of microplastics in rivers themselves.

Fath found that in some parts of the river, microplastics ranged from 16,000 to 18,000 particles per cubic metre.

When Fath conducted similar chemical tests on Germany’s Rhine River, there were only 200 particles per cubic metre. He blames this difference on the less developed recycling and waste infrastructure present in the US as compared to much of Europe, particularly in the southeast. The Tennessee River runs from eastern Tennessee, into Alabama, and connects to the Ohio River in Kentucky. By contrast, Germany has a goal of eliminating landfills by 2020.

In addition to microplastics, Fath found traces of pharmaceutical waste, though this was at lower levels than in the Rhine. By far, he notes, his biggest concern is the proliferation of microplastic in the ecologically unique ecosystem.

AN UNDERWATER RAIN FOREST

“The Tennessee River is an incredible part of the US”, says Anna George, VP of Conservation and Education at the Tennessee Aquarium. “It’s almost like an underwater rain forest”.

A biodiversity report prepared for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation in 2015 documented high numbers of fish, crawfish, and mussels endemic only to the Tennessee River.

Based on studies done in ocean environments, George says scientists know microplastics accumulate up through the food chain, but no one knows exactly how that works in freshwater environments.

“We don’t have similar studies for freshwater [organisms]”, she says.

PLASTICS 101

Research on the abundance and impacts of microplastics has only been performed in earnest throughout the past decade, making it a relatively new field of study. While scientists are now getting a handle on how plastic breaks down into imperceptibly small pieces in the ocean, the same literature is only just beginning to understand microplastics in Americans’ own backyards.

In 2016, one study showed microplastics were present in 29 tributaries that feed into the Great Lakes. In 2017, another study showed microplastics are abundant in the lakes themselves.

Hydroecologist Jill Crossman from the University of Windsor says microplastics can enter freshwater systems through anything from large plastic discarded over the sides of boats to fibres from synthetic clothing that’s washed down drains. Many of the ways municipalities treat sewage water does filter most microplastics out, but the small percentage that leaks through still adds up.

By Charita Goshay
CantonRep.com staff writer

Jul 30, 2018

Original available at: http://www.cantonrep.com/entertainmentlife/20180729/herbert-w-hoover-foundation-stays-true-to-mission-to-reduce-water-pollution

JACKSON TWP. The late Herbert W. Hoover Jr. wasn’t just a Hoover Co. executive. He also was an ardent environmentalist.

Elizabeth Lacey Hoover said she thinks her father would be proud that his namesake foundation is continuing his legacy.

The foundation is a partner and chief underwriter of the Ohio Ocean Foundation, a local group working to educate the public on how pollution in the state’s waterways is connected to the health of the world’s oceans.

“My father was the first industrialist environmentalist,” Hoover said. “He was very concerned with the output of emissions at the factory. Our family, our history, was taking care of the people who worked in the factories. That was important to him.”

Herbert W. Hoover Jr. was a grandson of company founder William H. Hoover. He succeeded his father as company president in 1954, then served as board chair from 1959 to 1966. He died in 1997.

Ohio Ocean Foundation has invited several scientists and oceanography experts to give presentations in Stark County, worked with schools, and has as spearheaded a number of cleanups; the most recent in Stadium Park in Canton, and along the Ralph Regula Towpath in Massillon in partnership with Ernie’s Bike Shop.

“We’re looking for other community groups and organizations to participate,” said Hoover, who chairs the Herbert W. Hoover Foundation. “There are all kinds of opportunities.”

Solutions, not problems

Hoover estimates that the recent cleanups have resulted in the removal of more than 1,000 pounds of trash that eventually would have made its way into the local water supply. Such continued efforts, she said, can assist nonprofit organizations like the Jackson Township Recycling Center.

“We’re used to corporate recycling,” she said, “But nonprofit seems to be a better fit.”

Having help is important.

“It’s a good methodology to get people engaged,” said Caiti Waks, the Herbert W. Hoover Foundation’s program and outreach director.

Waks splits her time between Stark County and Miami, Fla., where she has spearheaded several initiatives to encourage sustainability and reduce the usage and consumption of plastic, particularly single-use items such as straws, cups and plastic bags.

As part of its local educational outreach, the Ohio Ocean Foundation had an informational booth at the most recent First Friday in downtown Canton. They’re also creating an educational “tool kit” that can be used by schools.

“We do a lot of intense research,” Hoover said. “We work with scientists and researchers. We work on most levels that most foundations don’t. We work on solutions, not problems.”

Hoover said her father, who retired to Bal Harbour, Fla., funded ocean health science for 50 years.

There is about 270,000 tons of plastic debris in the world’s five ocean basins.

“It impacted him a lot,” she said. “When he created his foundation, his philosophy was to hire top-tier scientists, but also to ensure that people would understand. When they do, people will do the right thing and make the right choices and protect the environment.”

Hoover said the foundation supports the Brian Bank at the University of Miami, algae scientists, and world renowned shark researcher and conservationist Neil Hammerschlag.

The foundation also has published a paper examining a possible link between Alzheimer’s disease, the food chain, and algal blooms, which release a toxin known to cause neuro-degenerative diseases.

From linear to circular

“It’s getting people to understand the ocean’s connection to health,” Hoover said. “This is just not some environmental tree-hugging activity. There is a link to human health.”

“We’re working with Ohio scientists, who are analyzing algal blooms through satellite imagery to predict future growth,” Waks said. “We’re also trying to provide solutions to prevent blooms from growing.”

“In the world of research, we’re small,” Hoover added. “But that enables us to look at startup research that no one else will look at.”

Waks said there’s a growing interest in technology to break down plastics and using the material to re-manufacture new products, which in turn would reduce the need for oil, one of basic elements needed to make plastic.

“It’s fiction that we have infinite resources to take from,” she said. “Just like it’s fiction that we have infinite space for disposal. We have to go from a linear model of living, to a circular model in which products are extended beyond their initial use.”

Megan Pellegrino, a former associate professor at Walsh University, became the Herbert W. Hoover foundation’s new Ohio operations manager in June.

“I was familiar with the foundation,” she said. “I was teaching museum studies at Walsh, and connected with the Hoover Historical Center, which funded a digitization project for us. I find what they do meaningful.”

Pellegrino said she’s impressed with what the Ohio Ocean Foundation has done in such a short period of time.

“A lot of times, we hear about problems, but there’s not always an easy way to help,” she said. “I’ve been very happy to see the response. Once you explain how plastic on the street ends up in the ocean, they get it.”

To learn more, visit www.hwhfoundation.org or the Ohio Ocean Foundation Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ohiooceanfoundation/

Originally published on CBS News on May 24, 2018 at 5:34 PM. Written by Christina Capatides. Original article available here. Photo by iStockfootage used for educational purposes.

As more and more American communities grapple with opioid addiction, the human toll of the epidemic has grown in both scope and severity. And now, scientists at the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife have found evidence that drug’s impact has literally flowed downstream to affect marine life, as well.

Specifically, they used mussels as a barometer of pollution in the waters off Seattle, and discovered that oxycodone is now present enough in the marine environment there for shellfish to test positive.

Since mussels are “filter feeders,” they absorb contaminants from their environment into their tissues in a concentrated way.  Scientists used cages to transplant clean mussels from an aquaculture source on Whidbey Island to 18 urbanized locations around Puget Sound. Several months later, they pulled those previously uncontaminated mussels back out of the urban waters and, together with the Puget Sound Institute, tested them again.

In three of the 18 locations, the mussels then tested positive for trace amounts of oxycodone. How, you ask?

When humans ingest opioids like oxycodone, they ultimately end up excreting traces of the drugs into the toilet. Those chemicals then end up in wastewater. And while many contaminants are filtered out of wastewater before it’s released into the oceans, wastewater management systems can’t entirely filter out drugs. Thus, opioids, antidepressants, the common chemotherapy drug Melphalan — the mussels tested positive for all of them.

“What we eat and what we excrete goes into the Puget Sound,” Jennifer Lanksbury, a biologist at the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, told CBS Seattle affiliate KIRO. “It’s telling me there’s a lot of people taking oxycodone in the Puget Sound area.”

While mussels likely don’t metabolize drugs like oxycodone, and thus wouldn’t necessarily be physically harmed by the presence of it in their tissues, studies show that fish are not so lucky. In fact, scientists at the University of Utah recently discovered that, if given the opportunity, zebrafish will willingly dose themselves with opioids. Scientists say salmon and other fish might have a similar response.

The Puget Sound Institute notes that the amounts of opioids detected were thousands of times smaller than a typical human dose. And none of the mussels tested are near any commercial shellfish beds.

Still, the discovery of opioid-positive shellfish in Puget Sound is a stark new milestone in the epidemic, showing that enough humans are hooked on these life-altering drugs for the trace chemicals they excrete to register in other species in our coastal waters.

Sam Quinones, author of the book “Dreamland,” speaks to Stark County high school students about opioids. (CantonRep.com / Bob Rossiter)

By: Shane Hoover from the Canton Repository. To see the original article, visit this link. Originally posted on April 2, 2018.

CANTON Author and journalist Sam Quinones spoke Monday morning with an audience of local high school and college students from who were reading his book, “Dreamland: The True Story of America’s Opiate Epidemic.”

The book chronicles how black tar heroin from Mexico and the reckless marketing and prescribing of narcotic painkillers shaped an opioid overdose epidemic that killed more than 42,000 Americans in 2016.

Quinones talked about his reporting and the growing sense of isolation that makes communities, rich and poor, more susceptible to drugs.

“We have destroyed what brought us together as Americans,” he said.

But the former Los Angeles Times reporter spent much of the morning asking his audience how the opioid epidemic impacted their lives. After a little prodding, the students opened up.

One young man said he lost a friend to an overdose months ago, and had another friend who was in a bad car accident and now took a handful of pills every morning just to get out of bed.

Other students talked about family members who used prescription pills, bullying and stress in high school and peer pressure to smoke marijuana or take drugs.

Starting a conversation

The Stark County District Library arranged Quinones’ talk with the students at the Canton Palace Theatre, and a similar event for the general public Monday evening.

SOURCE:  USA Today/Doyle Rice  March 22, 2018

The world’s largest collection of ocean garbage is growing.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a collection of plastic, floating trash halfway between Hawaii and California, has grown to more than 600,000 square miles, a study published Thursday found. That’s twice the size of Texas.

Winds and converging ocean currents funnel the garbage into a central location, said study lead author Laurent Lebreton of the Ocean Cleanup Foundation, a non-profit organization that spearheaded the research.

First discovered in the early 1990s, the trash in the patch comes from around the Pacific Rim, including nations in Asia and North and South America, Lebreton said.

The patch is not a solid mass of plastic. It includes about 1.8 trillion pieces and weighs 88,000 tons — the equivalent of 500 jumbo jets. The new figures are as much as 16 times higher than previous estimates.

The research — the most complete study undertaken of the garbage patch — was published Thursday in the peer-reviewed journal Scientific Reports.

 “We were surprised by the amount of large plastic objects we encountered,” said Julia Reisser of the foundation. “We used to think most of the debris consists of small fragments, but this new analysis shines a new light on the scope of the debris.”

The study was based on a three-year mapping effort by an international team of scientists affiliated with the Ocean Cleanup Foundation, six universities and an aerial sensor company.

More: Our trash harms the deepest fish in the ocean

More: Humans have produced 18.2 trillion pounds of plastic since the ’50s. That’s equal in size to 1 billion elephants.

Sadly, the Pacific patch isn’t alone. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is the largest of five such trash collections in the ocean, Lebreton said.

Scientists work with the European Space Agency to take photos of the garbage patches from space.

No governments have stepped up to clean the trash, which is in international waters, so it’s up to privately funded groups such as the Ocean Cleanup Foundation to take the lead in getting rid of the garbage.

There’s a sense of urgency, said Joost Dubois, a spokesman with the foundation.

“It’s a ticking time bomb of larger material,” Dubois said. “We’ve got to get it before it breaks down into a size that’s too small to collect and also dangerous for marine life.”

Since plastic has been around only since the 1950s, there’s no way of knowing exactly how long it will last in the ocean. If left alone, the plastic could remain there for decades, centuries or even longer.

“Unless we begin to remove it, some would say it may remain there forever,” Lebreton said.