Introduction

Imagine living in a city covered in trash. Everywhere you look you see trash. You can feel the germs and filth in your lungs with each breath you take. When you go grocery shopping the products are surrounded by rubbish and old wrappers that resemble the very food you need. It becomes a difficult task to determine the trash from the food. On your way home from the store you trudge your way through piles of garbage only to arrive at a home that is just as dirty as the rest of the community.

It is doubtful that anyone in their right mind would ever want to live in or cause someone else to live in an environment like the one described above. Despite this, everyday we contribute to an environment like that for all the organisms of the North Pacific Ocean.