Deepest-ever sub dive finds plastic waste

Bad news!

Thank you, my friend LTC Greg Henning for posting the interesting news. As typical teh headline is inflammatory and diverts attentions from the wonderful finds
Of note
1. "The team believes it has discovered four new species of prawn-like crustaceans called amphipods, saw a creature called a spoon worm 7,000m-down and a pink snailfish at 8,000m."
2. "They also discovered brightly coloured rocky outcrops, possibly created by microbes on the seabed, and collected samples of rock from the seafloor."
3. They collected samples and intend to determine if plastic has been ingested or absorbed by creatures and plants in the depths.
4. "Once thought to be remote, desolate areas, the deep sea teems with life. There is also growing evidence that they are carbon sinks, playing a role in regulating the Earth's chemistry and climate."

"Victor Vescovo descended nearly 11km (seven miles) to the deepest place in the ocean - the Pacific Ocean's Mariana Trench. He spent four hours exploring the bottom of the trench in his submersible, built to withstand the immense pressure of the deep."
In addition to finding sea creatures which can survive and thrive at "crushing pressure found at the bottom of the ocean: 1,000 bars, which is the equivalent of 50 jumbo jets piled on top of a person."
It is interesting to me that "a plastic bag and sweet wrappers" were intact at that depth.

FYI LTC Orlando Illi Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Maj William W. 'Bill' Price CPT Jack Durish Capt Tom Brown CMSgt (Join to see) MSG Andrew White SFC William Farrell SGT (Join to see) Sgt Albert Castro SSgt Boyd Herrst SGT Charles H. Hawes SSG Martin Byrne PO1 William "Chip" Nagel CPT Gabe Snell

I think the first thing we need to do is work on stopping any additional plastic from being disposed of this way. Find uses for it, recycle/upcycle/reuse, etc. Then we can work on cleanup.
SMSgt Lawrence McCarter LT Brad McInnis PO3 Bob McCord CW3 Dick McManus SGT John " Mac " McConnell CWO3 Dennis M. MSgt Stephen Council LTC (Join to see) LTC Stephan PorterLTC Stephen C. LTC Greg Henning SGT Gregory Lawritson Maj William W. 'Bill' Price Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. SGT Jim Arnold Maj Robert Thornton Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen SFC Francisco Rosario LTC (Join to see) Sgt Deborah Cornatzer