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The Origin of Plastic Marine Debris

Ellen Murphy, a high school student from Minnesota, examines samples of plastic in WHOI marine chemist Chris Reddy’s laboratory in May 2008. Murphy, Reddy, and other lab technicians and students have been collecting plastic debris from Cape Cod beaches to evaluate their contents and origin. In this photo, Murphy is trying to figure out if the plastic is polypropylene or high-density polyethylene.(Photo by Tom Kleindinst, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)