Deep down in the ocean, it’s not only microplastics piling up (~63% of seafloor dirt is plastic). BIG pieces of plastic, along with other trash, used to stay where it fell. It now can move due to human activities and pile up in odd, and important, places. A study out of the University of Barcelona found a shocking amount of trash piling up on a submarine bridge in the Messina Strait, between Sicily and Italy. Scientists estimate three billion metric tons of waste could accumulate in this area over the next thirty years!

Literally tons of plastic accumulating isn’t just a problem at far away lands. The Chesapeake Bay keeps 94% of microplastics that enter the Bay in the Bay, according to a model done by researchers from Pennsylvania State University and the Virginia Institute of Marine science. A “sink” of plastic, or a place where plastic is held, is the opposite of a “source”, where plastic would be introduced into the natural environment. The Chesapeake Bay as a sink of plastic pollution means plastic accumulates over time in this important natural resource.

What’s more, the results naming the Chesapeake Bay as a plastic sink are based off modeling. Science models inform what we could expect in the future. While it may seem odd to place power in a possibility, modeling methods are a frequently used to begin to answer and understand big, elusive phenomenon. Think of it as a forecast of likely scenarios—its better to estimate future possibilities than have no clue what they future holds at all! This makes models a powerful tool in preparedness and necessary for decision making.

The ocean’s deep dark pollution is no secret! Plastic is universal in its harm to aquatic ecosystems, both near (Chesapeake Bay) and far (Messina Strait).