JUNE 14, 2023

The Perfect Storm: Flesh-Eating Bacteria and Floating Plastic

By Landon Gray

Tossing those six-pack rings into the ocean after a day of fishing was never a good idea, but not just because of dangers to wildlife. Organisms and algae appear to be colonizing plastic trash floating in the ocean, which could lead to a perfect storm with consequences for marine life and public health, according to a recent study.

Researchers from Florida Atlantic University reeled in samples from eel larvae; plastic marine debris; Sargassum, a brown macroalga accumulating on