Remote Island Chain Has Few People — But Hundreds Of Millions Of Pieces Of Plastic

May 16, 2019btollesonRSS Sample

Debris blankets the north side of one of the Cocos Keeling Islands in the Indian Ocean. Researchers found a huge amount of plastic both onshore and buried in the sand.

The Cocos Keeling Islands make up barely 6 square miles in the Indian Ocean. It’s a good place to measure debris because almost no one lives there. Scientists were flabbergasted by what they found.

(Image credit: Courtesy of Silke Stuckenbrock)