What is the difference between the “gyre” and the “garbage patch”?
Or are they the same thing? A gyre is any manner of swirling vortex often used to describe large-scale ocean currents. Worldwide, there are five major large-scale subtropical oceanic gyres that are formed by ocean currents. They are the North and South Pacific Subtropical Gyres, the North and South Atlantic Subtropical Gyres, and the Indian Ocean Subtropical Gyre. The North Pacific Subtropical Gyre is the gyre most notably known for collecting debris and is made up of four large, clockwise-rotating currents – North Pacific, California, North Equatorial, and Kuroshio (see map).
