Describes the work of scientist Curtis Ebbesmeyer, whose multi-year project of tracking plastic items accidentally spilled by ocean cargo ships has heightened awareness of the dangers that these items present to ocean life and has inspired similar projects for other types of debris.
Loree Griffin Burns, Ph.D., did her doctoral work far from the Pacific Ocean, at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. While writing this book, however, she made several trips to the Pacific coast. Ms. Burns lives in Massachusetts with her husband and children.