In the article Ocean Trash: A Floating Insect Nursery by Andrew Hitchings, the author describes how trash particles affect and benefit the ecosystem. When waste is thrown into the ocean, it turns into tiny particles which are then digested by animals that usually feed on plankton. These tiny waste particles are called “microplastics”. The author analyzed and explained research done by Miriam C. Goldstein and her colleagues at the University of California, San Diego in 2012. Goldstein and her colleagues discovered an insect that takes advantage of these microplastics present in the oceans and these insects known as "Skaters" would literally use them to survive and increase their population. Skaters use microplastic to lay their eggs, and as the amount of microplastic increases, the same thing will happen to skaters in the future. (Hichings, 2012) The author gave a brief explanation about skaters, including how they live and what they eat. Skaters can literally stand and walk on the surface of the ocean and that's why these insects got this nickname. Seahorses are used to living near water, but after they reproduce, they need to find something solid where they can lay their eggs and this is where microplastic becomes an advantage for them. The author also described where exactly huge amounts of microplastics are found in the world. Hitchings mentioned that there is a specific location between Asia and North America where the bulk of microplastics have accumulated over the past few years, better known as the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch." This amount of waste has been compared to the size of the United States due to its identical size. (Hichings, 2012) Hitchings mentioned how Miriam C. Goldstein and he... middle of paper... something inorganic to be able to survive. Usually the organisms eat other living animals or plants and not plastic. I thought this research was important because it was a way to demonstrate and show the public that plastic as waste affects our environment and that is why recycling is important. If 10-13% of plankton already represents the same amount of eggs laid on the Great Pacific garbage patch, I can't imagine what the percentage would be in 10, 100, 5,000 years. Some of the questions would be: How is it possible to determine how many eggs are in a specific area that is approximately the size of the United States? Why wasn't a sample collected between 1987 and 1999? Is there any other organization that benefits from plastic other than skaters? Keeping planet Earth clean is important for the survival of not only humans, but also every organism..