In yesterday's post we explored the Science Facts Vs Science Fiction dichotomy. Let's continue this dual thread by moving onto another interesting dichotomy – Marine Species Vs Synthetic Environments. 
To do so, let's focus on the issue of oceans' garbage patches. These patches form far from land, where powerful currents converge, carrying various types of trash, including microplastics – tiny debris resulting from the erosion of larger plastic items.
The most significant of these marine debris fields is known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, also referred to as the Pacific Trash Vortex and North Pacific Garbage Patch.
Spanning an area roughly twice the size of France, it's located in the central North Pacific Ocean, about midway between Hawaii and the coast of California. The patch first came to the attention of oceanographer Charles Moore in 1997. Due to the difficulties in spotting its contents from a distance, it remained unnoticed for a long time.
This garbage patch is formed primarily from plastic and floating trash originating from the Pacific Rim countries, including those in Asia, North America, and South America.
Cleaning up these patches presents significant challenges, especially since recent studies have shown that coastal species have begun colonizing plastic trash in the ocean.
These colonies, termed "neopelagic communities" (Download Emergence_of_a_neopelagic_community_through_the_es), consist of various species such as anemones, brittle stars, shrimp, barnacles, and more, thriving on the plastic debris. Essentially, masses of ocean plastic are now providing artificial habitats for these coastal species.
While some bacteria can break down hydrocarbons in plastic, it is unlikely that these filter-feeding invertebrates thriving in neopelagic communities will have a similar effect (however, in 2021 scientists discovered in the ocean bacteria capable of "eating plastic" – Thioclava sp. BHET1 and Bacillus sp. BHET2; investigating the potential of these microbes on plastics could be crucial in the fight against plastic pollution).
However, attempts to remove trash from the ocean may inadvertently harm delicate creatures living in these garbage patches as stated in a study in 2021 and confirmed in a new research published in April this year (Download Peerj-15021).
The latter states that removing trash from the ocean would kill countless delicate creatures living on the garbage patches. Efforts to clean up the garbage patches by skimming the surface with nets might indeed lead to bycatch, similar to the accidental capture of dolphins while targeting commercial species like shrimp. Such cleanup measures could therefore inadvertently harm these surface-dwelling organisms along with the debris, yet these creatures are an integral part of the marine food web, serving as food for one another.
The accumulation of plastic in marine ecosystems has given rise to a unique concept called the plastisphere. The term was first described in an essay published in 2013 by a team of three scientists, Dr. Linda Amaral-Zettler and Dr. Erik Zettler from NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research in North Holland and Dr. Tracy Mincer from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
The term refers to a plasticized marine environment, acting as a habitat for various microorganisms, from bacteria and fungi to larger organisms like crabs and jellyfish. The plastisphere is an ecosystem with complex interactions, including photosynthesis, predation, symbiosis, and parasitism, it is therefore similar to other ecosystems.
Unlike other ecosystems that have evolved over millions of years, the plastisphere is a creation of human activities. Studies have also shown that certain colors of plastic affect the diversity of the microbes colonizing them, with blue microplastics hosting richer microbial communities than yellow or transparent plastics.
Yet, even if you're not a scientist and while on holiday, you can carry out an intriguing and inspiring research into materials, plastics and marine species, just by observing what surrounds you.
If you happen to be in Italy, for example, observe the plastic debris you may find on the beaches: sadly, it is not rare to stumble upon lost diving masks, children's toys, bottles, caps and semi-melted medicines in plastic dispensers (not expired yet in case you need them…). If you find larger pieces of plastic or children's buckets abandoned for a long time but in good state (sometimes among the sea rocks), in some cases you may be able to spot marine species attached to them.
In the fifth, sixth and seventh picture illustrating this post, you can see for example a piece of white plastic probably from a paint bucket that my brother found in Italy along the Adriatic coast two days ago during a creative exploration (my brother and I collect plastic debris from the sea for a personal project).
Along the edge of the bucket you can see tiny Gooseneck barnacles (Lepas anatifera). The name of this species refers to the fact that the barnacle looks like a duck's beak and according to one version of a hilarious myth that gained popularity during the early Medieval times mainly through bestiaries, the Barnacle Goose and the Brant Goose were believed to emerge fully formed from goose barnacles, so they grew from something other than conventional bird eggs (the myth's long-standing popularity can be attributed to the lack of knowledge about phenomena such as bird migration during earlier times).
The piece of plastic is also pierced in multiple places with perfect holes made by the same barnacles that probably ate it or anyway pierced it to attach to it. While this is not a proper "community" it is still a tiny colony that has created its own habitat, so you can't just discard the piece of plastic.
Although the notion of organism-encrusted plastic may seem like a tale of ocean species thriving despite human mistakes and taking their revenge upon us, there is little cause for celebration as these plastic fragments hosting colonies of marine species will inevitably attract other species, eventually entering the food chain. In the case of plastic eating barnacles, well, a research showed in 2013, that barnacles ingest small particles of plastic (polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene), but no blockage of the stomach or intestine was observed as all particles were of a plausible size to be expelled again (Download Peerj-184).
While some advocate for controlling or eliminating plastic like you do with invasive species, an alternative approach involves establishing protected areas that include garbage patches, enabling scientists to gain deeper insights into potential consequences. However, the most impactful and lasting solution lies in reducing our dependence on plastic altogether, preventing its entry into the oceans in the first place.
So the urgent task at hand is to find a solution to plastic pollution, an open call also for creative minds. Designers can indeed play a pivotal role in developing sustainable alternatives to plastic; besides, the fascinating plastisphere, with its diverse array of marine creatures and their interactions with synthetic materials, may offer a wealth of inspiration for designers willing to study natural adaptations and develop products and materials that coexist harmoniously with our environment.