勘察發現 太平洋垃圾帶規模超乎你的想象!

The vast patch of garbage floating in the Pacific Ocean is far worse than previously thought, with an aerial survey finding a much larger mass of fishing nets, plastic containers and other discarded items than imagined.

一項航空勘察發現，太平洋表面漂浮的巨大垃圾帶遠比之前想象的糟糕。大量的漁網，塑料瓶和其他廢棄物品，多的超乎想象！

A reconnaissance flight taken in a Modified C-130 Hercules aircraft found a vast clump of mainly plastic waste at the northern edge of what is known as the "great Pacific garbage patch", located between Hawaii and California.

在太平洋北部邊緣偵測過程中，一輛改良過的C-130大力神飛機，發現了一片主要由塑料廢棄物構成的垃圾帶--也就是衆所周知的、位於夏威夷和加州之間"大太平洋垃圾帶"。

The density of rubbish was several times higher than the Ocean Cleanup, a foundation part-funded by the Dutch government to rid the oceans of plastics, expected to find even at the heart of the patch, where most of the waste is concentrated.

這裏的垃圾密度是海洋清理計劃的好幾倍。海洋清理計劃是由荷蘭政府部分出資建立的一個基金會，旨在清除海洋裏甚至是垃圾帶中心區域的塑料廢物，而大部分廢物都聚集在中心區。

"Normally when you do an aerial survey of dolphins or whales, you make a sighting and record it," said Boyan Slat, the founder of the Ocean Cleanup.

海洋清理計劃創始人博揚·斯拉特表示："通常情況下，當你對海豚或者鯨魚做航空勘察時，你會觀測並且進行記錄。"

"That was the plan for this survey. But then we opened the door and we saw the debris everywhere. Every half second you see something. So we had to take snapshots – it was impossible to record everything. It was bizarre to see that much garbage in what should be pristine ocean."

"那就是這項調查的計劃。當着手調查時，我們發現到處都是垃圾。每0.5秒你都會看到一些東西。所以我們不得不拍攝快照。當然，記錄下所有東西是不可能的。看到本應純潔無暇的海洋裏有這麼多垃圾，感覺非常不可思議。"

The heart of the garbage patch is thought to be around 1m sq km (386,000 sq miles), with the periphery spanning a further 3.5m sq km (1,351,000 sq miles). The dimensions of this morass of waste are continually morphing, caught in one of the ocean's huge rotating currents.

垃圾帶中心範圍大約有1平方千米，周長超過3.5千米。受海洋較大的旋轉水流之一影響，這團廢物在不斷改變形狀。

The north Pacific gyre has accumulated a soup of plastic waste, including large items and smaller broken-down micro plastics that can be eaten by fish and enter the food chain.

北太平洋渦流已經聚集了一大片廢物，其中包括大件物品和較小的被毀壞的小塑料片，魚類可以食用後者，使得小塑料片進入海洋食物鏈。

Last year, the Ocean Cleanup sent 30 vessels to cross the patch to scoop up micro plastics in fine nets to estimate the extent of the problem.

去年，海洋清理計劃派出30艘船橫穿垃圾帶，打撈密網裏的微小塑料片，來估測問題的嚴重程度。

However, the new reconnaissance flights from California have found that large items of more than half a meter in size have been "heavily underestimated".

然而，來自加州的最近航空勘察發現，半米多長的大件垃圾被"遠遠低估"了。

Slat said: "Most of the debris was large stuff. It's a ticking time bomb because the big stuff will crumble down to micro plastics over the next few decades if we don't act."

斯拉特說："大部分垃圾都是大塊頭。這是一個定時炸彈。如果我們不採取行動，這些大傢伙就會在未來幾十年分解成塑料碎片。"

A report by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation earlier this year predicted there would be more plastic than fish in the oceans by 2050 unless urgent action was taken.

在今年早些時候由艾倫·麥克阿瑟基金會發布的報告預測稱，如果我們不採取行動，那麼到2050年，海洋中的垃圾就會比魚還多！