One of the world’s remotest islands has been polluted with the highest density of plastic garbage, scientific research finding shows.
Although located more than 5,000 kilometres (3,106 miles) from the nearest major population centre, the uninhabited Henderson Island has an estimated 37.7 million pieces of plastic, according to the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) at the University of Tasmania.
Dr Jennifer Lavers, IMAS researcher and lead author for the scientific expedition to the island led by the British nature conservation charity Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), found that the beach is littered with up to 671 items per square metre (10.8 square foot), the highest density ever reported, she says.
Although her expedition was in 2015, Lavers says it took two years to sort, weigh and analyse more than 50,000 pieces of plastic in her sample.