Indian Ocean is the world’s biggest dumping ground for plastic waste, but where the trash ultimately ends up has remained a mystery, scientists say.
According to researchers from the University of Western Australia (UWA), little research had been done to measure and track plastic waste in the Indian Ocean.
The team found that unique characteristics of the southern Indian Ocean transport floating plastics towards the western side of the ocean, where it leaks past South Africa into the South Atlantic Ocean.
“Because of the Asian monsoon system, the southeast trade winds in the southern Indian Ocean are stronger than the trade winds in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans,” said Mirjam van der Mheen, a PhD student at UWA.
“These strong winds push floating plastic material further to the west in the southern Indian Ocean than they do in the other oceans,” she said in a statement.
