Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Also known as the Pacific Trash Vortex, this massive accumulation of marine litter (mostly plastic) is located in the central North Pacific Ocean, approximately between 135 to 155W and 35 to 42N. The exact size of this floating island of garbage is unknown, although estimates range from the size of the state of Texas to one larger than the continental United States. Although the existence of this garbage buildup was predicted in a 1988 NOAA publication, its actual confirmed discovery did not come until 1997 when Charles Moore came across it after the Transpac sailing race. Oceanographers were alerted and gave the region the title "Eastern Garbage Patch" (EGP).

Marine debris has been amalgamating all over the world's oceans, and it is assumed that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch formed by the similar mechanisms: oceanic currents. The garbage patch is located in a seemingly stationary region of the North Pacific Ocean located in the middle of many strong currents. It draws in waste materials from across the entire ocean, including coastal waters off Japan and North America. As debris becomes trapped in the currents, the floating plastic is gradually moved towards the center by wind-driven surface currents. Moore's description of the patch as a massive accumulation of plastic is slightly misleading. The process of disintegration means that the plastic particles in most of the patch are actually too small to be seen. In a 2001 study, researchers found concentrations of plastics to be 334,721 pieces per km squared, with a mean mass of 11.27 lbs per km squared.

As the plastic is disintegrating into smaller and smaller particles, many of them are sinking deep into the ocean and affecting many levels of the food web. These small pieces of toxic-filled plastic have been known to be consumed by jellyfish, which are then eaten by larger fish. Some of the long-lasting larger pieces of plastics are consumed by marine birds and animals, including sea turtles and the albatross.

The initial cleanup steps are now underway as groups are taking samples and attempting to raise awareness of the issue. Make no mistake though, irreversible damage has already been done. Cleaning up the plastic will be a costly and difficult endeavor, one which might be thwarted by a buildup of more plastics likely to be occurring at a faster rate.

Searchers Set Record Finding Meteorites

The luminous fireball that lit up Alberta and Saskatchewan's night sky last fall, previously covered on Markit Science (Meteorite Spotted + Found!), has set a Canadian record for the number of meteorites recovered from a single fall. Scientists from University of Calgary have searched for the scattered remnants and have found more than 1000 fragments in fields near Lloydminster on the Alberta-Saskatchewan boundary.

This beat the previous record of 700 pieces set after a meteor hit the ground in central Alberta in 1960. Now that the snow has melted, the search continues, and Alan Hildebrand says they are finding dozens of meteorites a day.

Skeletons For Sale

Going once, going twice, SOLD! If you are a serious fossil collector, and can afford the hefty cost, those might be the words you'd hear at a Natural History Auction hosted by I.M. Chait Gallery/Auctioneers on Saturday, March 21 in New York City.

Shown above is Lot 250: a mounted complete skeleton of a Dryosaurus dinosaur from the Jurassic Era. There are only two in the world, the other is on display at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pennsylvania. Apparently the one for sale is by far the more impressive specimen. It measures 127.5 inches from nose to tail, stands 36 inches high, and was expected to sell for $440,000 - $500,000.

But if dinosaurs are not really your style, perhaps you coule find more interest in Lot 199: a complete skeleton of a juvenile Wooly Mammoth. This 7-foot high, 15-foot long fossil is approximately 20,000 years old. The perfectly preserved specimen was expected to sell for $80,000 - $100,000, appealing to the more thrifty of shoppers.

Seeing Pink Elephants

No, this is not a drunken hallucination. While filming for a BBC wildlife program in Botswana, cameraman Mike Holding spotted this rare pink elephant calf among a herd of approximately 80 elephants. The young elephant is most likely an albino, which diminishes its chances for long-term survival under the scorching African sun. Lengthy exposure might result in blindness and serious skin problems.

Although albinism is considered quite common among Asian species, it is rather rare in the larger African elephants. "This is probably the first documented sighting of an albino elephant in northern Botswana," said Ecologist Dr. Mike Chase, head of the conservation charity Elephants Without Borders.

Although surviving into adulthood will be a difficult task for the baby elephant, Dr. Chase expressed some hope in the creature's ability to adapt and cope with its condition: "I have learned that elephants are highly adaptable, intelligent and masters of survival." He explained that it could seek refuge underneath large trees, or coat itself with thick mud.

"Already the two-to-three-month-old calf seems to be walking in the shade of its mother. This behavior suggests it is aware of its susceptibility to the harsh African sun, and adapted a unique behavior to improve its chances of survival."

Fearless "Sharkman"

This shocking picture has been surfacing all over the internet, and has earned Mike Rutzen a global reputation as the "Sharkman". No stranger to the dangers associated with these beasts of the sea, he has over 30 scars on his body from close encounters. This former fisherman aims to change the stigma surrounding the powerful creatures, and hopes that the world will start to view them through his eyes, as smart and sensitive beings.

To succeed in his mission, he has been swimming alongside sharks without the protection of diving cages. He has learned to mimic their body language, by altering his posture in response to their actions. If done properly, the shark will see him neither as prey nor predator, and will merely drift past him. They even allow him to ride along by grasping onto their dorsal fins.

The photo above, showing Mike holding a 13-foot long Grey Reef Shark, is a demonstration of his most startling feat - inducing "tonic immobility" to the shark. Animals sometimes enter into this natural state of paralysis if faced with an imminent threat. However this can also be achieved in sharks by turning them onto their heads and massaging their snouts, between their eyes. The shark will then slip into this catatonic state for almost 15 minutes.

This method has been helpful for scientists wishing to study sharks, even the most dangerous kinds. In fact, by getting so close to a Great White, Mike discovered that their eyes are not black, but rather a dazzling, bright blue.

Elusive Venomous Mammal

The Hispaniolan solendon waddles around one Caribbean island with its long, thin snout. This shrew-like mammal is capable of injecting its prey with a venom-packed bite. Just like many creatures in these regions, it is threatened by hunting, deforestation, and the introduction of competing species. After a period of dormancy in the media, the mammal was finally filmed in the summer of 2008, when it was spotted in the Dominican Republic. Neighboring Haiti is the only other country where this nocturnal, insect-eating animal can be found.

Dr Richard Young, from Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, said: "My colleagues were excited and thrilled when they found it in the trap. "But despite a month's worth of trapping effort, they only ever caught a single individual."

He said: "They are still incredibly vulnerable and fragile. So it is really important to get back out there to work how how these animals are surviving." However, sometimes it can be difficult to focus on important conservation goals in countries like Haiti, where remedying political corruption takes the top spot on the To Do list. Here is a video of the captured:

Another Feat!

When doctors performed a standard MRI scan on three-day old Sam Esquibel, they were definitely not ready for what they would find. What looked like a microscopic brain tumor forming, was actually a nearly perfectly formed foot and partial formation of another foot, a hand, and a thigh. A case like this has been given the name "foetus in foetu", which is a twin beginning to form within its sibling, and is rarely seen.

Mr Dominic Thompson, a consultant paediatric neurosurgeon at London's Great Ormond Street Hospital, said there were probably less than 100 recorded cases of foetus in foetu in the medical literature. Sam was operated on without any problems, and all that is remaining of this little foot, is a little scar.

Feat For Fish

It started in Turkey thousands of years ago, moved to eastern Asia after that, and is currently sweeping through North American spas as the new hot format for pedicures. People dip their feet into tanks of warm water containing many baby-carp. Due to the lack of vegetation in water of such a high temperature, the fish do not have many options when it comes to their feeding habits. At the sight of two fresh human feat, they begin their feast. Since they have no teeth, they target all the dead skin they can find, and provide spa clients with a very natural method for exfoliation.

Welcome Millkit!

Scientists in Argentina have found ways to make cows produce more milk, through injections of bovine growth hormone produced by genetically modified dairy cows. Also known as rbST, synthetic bovine somatotropin is not a newly developed product used for injection, however this team of scientists claim that their method is cheaper and produces a natural bovine hormone.

The head of research and development at biotechnology firm Bio Sidus, Andres Bercivich, explained that if under normal circumstances a cow produces 20 liters of milk/day, it could produce 25 liters when injected with this hormone. When looking at one cow, it might not seem like much, but convert that statistic to the output levels at huge milk firms, an increase of 25% will equal a huge jump in profits.

The company plans to export the dairy hormone technology to the United States, Mexico, Peru, and Brazil, as this product has not yet been approved for sale in Argentina.

Now I will take this opportunity to introduce a new member to Markit Science team: the one and only Millkit

Meteorite Spotted + Found!

The fireball seen in the video above was captured by a peace officer's dashboard cam in Devon, Alberta, providing an excellent account of this event. The meteorite fall occurred on 2008 November 20 at 5:26.42 MST. It was seen by thousands of people across the Canadian prairies, sparking a wide range of reactions from sheer awe to fear and panic.

Thousands of meteorites are expected to have rained down over a 20 square km area, but they were difficult to find in the varied terrain of Buzzard Coulee. After quick examination of the suspected region of impact, the first meteorites were located by Ellen Milley, a PhD candidate at the University of Calgary, in a frozen fish pond near the agricultural community of Lone Rock, Saskatchewan.

The largest meteorite fragment to be recovered in the first days was a 13 kg whopper which creating a form fitting indentation 5-10 cm deep before bouncing out and resting on the frozen ground a few cm away. Take a look at the detailed topographical map to see the exact impact location of the large meteorite.