About the Authors

Marcus Eriksen

marcus@5gyres.org

Affiliation Five Gyres Institute, Los Angeles, California, United States of America

Laurent C. M. Lebreton

Affiliation Dumpark Data Science, Wellington, New Zealand

Henry S. Carson

Affiliations Marine Science Department, University of Hawaii at Hilo, Hilo, Hawaii, United States of America, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Olympia, Washington, United States of America

Martin Thiel

Affiliations Facultad Ciencias del Mar, Universidad Católica del Norte, Coquimbo, Chile, Millennium Nucleus Ecology and Sustainable Management of Oceanic Island (ESMOI), Coquimbo, Chile, Centro de Estudios Avanzados en Zonas Áridas (CEAZA), Coquimbo, Chile

Charles J. Moore

Affiliation Algalita Marine Research and Education, Long Beach, California, United States of America

Jose C. Borerro

Affiliation eCoast Limited, Raglan, New Zealand

Francois Galgani

Affiliation Departement Océanographie et Dynamique des Ecosystemes, Institut français de recherche pour l′exploitation de la mer (Ifremer), Bastia, Corsica, France

Peter G. Ryan

Affiliation Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa

Julia Reisser

Affiliation School of Environmental Systems Engineering and Oceans Institute, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Perth, Australia

Competing Interests

Jose Borerro is affiliated wih eCoast Ltd., and this affiliation does not alter the authors' adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials. Laurent C. M. Lebreton is affiliated with Dumpark Creative Industries Ltd., and this affiliation does not alter the authors' adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: ME LCML HSC MT JCB PGR JR. Performed the experiments: ME LCML HSC MT CJM JCB FG PGR JR. Analyzed the data: ME LCML HSC MT JCB. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: LCML JCB. Wrote the paper: ME LCML HSC MT CJM JCB FG PGR JR. Calculated plastic fragmentation rates: MT. Designed ocean model: LCML JCB. Contributed field data: ME HSC MT CJM FG PGR JR.