Monitoring Plastic Density in the Ocean: A Comparison of Approaches

Plastic pollution has been a global problem that threatens marine life, with an estimated 50 to 75 trillion pieces of plastic and microplastics currently in Earth's oceans. One major ocean plastic accumulation zone, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP), forms in the subtropical waters between California in Hawaii and is estimated to contain over 1.8 trillion plastic pieces weighing 79 k tonnes. The long-term accumulation of plastic in aquatic environments generates considerable environmental harms, including through ingestion by marine animals such as zooplankton, cetaceans, seabirds, and marine reptiles. Plastic pollution is a global crisis that no nation or continent is immune to, requiring remedial action from the scientific community. Among new developments in microplastic pollution research is the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI)-based imaging technologies. The potential of artificial intelligence to quantify plastic debris is an on-going process where scientists pivot from manual detection to AI-based algorithms to detect marine litter abundance. This method of remote sensing, published by researchers from The Ocean Cleanup, a non-profit organization that aims to remove 90% of floating ocean plastic pollution by 2040 in areas such as the GPGP, could serve as a new tool to monitor plastic accumulation consistently and systematically in offshore regions.