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WEKU
Nell Greenfieldboyce

This floating ocean garbage is home to a surprising amount of life from the coasts

A piece of plastic debris that's been colonized by both costal barnacles (pink and striped) and a gooseneck barnacle from the open ocean. (Linsey Haram/SERC Marine Invasions Lab)

Scientists studying a giant collection of plastic trash floating in the middle of the open ocean have found some unexpected inhabitants: dozens of marine species that usually stick close to the coast.

Among the plastic debris, the researchers found all kinds of nonnative species, from anemones to worms to little crustaceans.

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