Screenshot from a video showing a plastic bag on the seafloor of the Pacific Ocean's Mariana Trench, taken during a record-breaking submersible dive on 13 May 2019. Photo: Atlantic Productions / Discovery Channel
Screenshot from a video showing a plastic bag on the seafloor of the Pacific Ocean’s Mariana Trench, taken during a record-breaking submersible dive on 13 May 2019. Photo: Atlantic Productions / Discovery Channel

By Rebecca Morelle
13 May 2019

(BBC News) — An American explorer has found plastic waste on the seafloor while breaking the record for the deepest ever dive.

Victor Vescovo descended nearly 11km (seven miles) to the deepest place in the ocean – the Pacific Ocean’s Mariana Trench.

He spent four hours exploring the bottom of the trench in his submersible, built to withstand the immense pressure of the deep.

He found sea creatures, but also found a plastic bag and sweet wrappers. […]

The scientists now plan to test the creatures they collected to see if they contain microplastics – a recent study found this was a widespread problem, even for animals living in the deep. [more]

Mariana Trench: Deepest-ever sub dive finds plastic bag