Plastic may take unexpected routes to marine garbage patches

Researchers redraw ocean boundaries to help identify polluters

ocean plastic

RUBBISH TRAIL  Plastic tossed into the ocean breaks down into tiny particles that accumulate in large ocean swirls. New research on the connections between the world's oceans finds that the plastic litter in a patch may have come from a distant sea.

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Math may help scientists figure out who is responsible for massive tracts of trash in the oceans — and the culprits may not be the obvious suspects.