Research-Great Pacific Garbage Patch

I've been doing some research on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and its effects on the ecosystem. The first thing that stood out to me was:

"There are five major gyres: two in the Atlantic Ocean, two in the Pacific Ocean, and two in the Indian Ocean. Gyres act a bit like whirlpools, pulling objects from their edges to their centers. This causes anything in the water to accumulate. All five ocean gyres have garbage patches in them." (Blackwell)

I was surprised to learn that there isn't one garbage patch, there are multiple. The largest of the garbage patches is located in the Pacific ocean, off the coast of California. "The patch contains about 79,000 metric tons of plastic trash, with perhaps 1.8 trillion individual pieces." (Blackwell). I would like to delve deeper into how this amount of trash affects the local ecosystem. As I read through articles and begin to think about my research question, I'm thinking about how this same issue affects the local ecosystems within Phoenix. What issues have come from birds and/or plants that have been exposed to trash and debris in the canal.

Here is an idea of the size of the Garbage Patch in the Pacific:

Blackwell, Amy Hackney. "Pacific Gyre Garbage Patch." Gale Environmental Studies Online Collection, Gale, 2018. Gale In Context: Environmental Studies, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CXRNIL252565088/GRNR?u=mcc_main&sid=GRNR&xid=22fb776d. Accessed 19 Feb. 2021.