0:00:01.594,0:00:05.255 The open plains of the asphalt jungle. 0:00:05.255,0:00:08.625 Home to many creatures, great and small. 0:00:08.625,0:00:13.263 And the pupping ground for one the [br]most clever and illustrious creatures, 0:00:13.263,0:00:16.300 the Plastic Bag. 0:00:16.300,0:00:21.104 Today we explore the cycle of life for [br]this curious creature, the plastic bag 0:00:21.104,0:00:26.652 on its migration to its home, [br]the Pacific ocean. 0:00:26.652,0:00:31.370 Once released into the wild, [br]the plastic bag is unsure of itself. 0:00:31.370,0:00:36.954 It falters at first, but soon, with some help from the wind, 0:00:36.954,0:00:39.703 the bag will be airborne! 0:00:39.780,0:00:45.388 This flight will be the first in its long [br]journey towards it's final destination: 0:00:45.450,0:00:50.774 the Garbage Patch in heart [br]of the Pacific Ocean. 0:00:50.871,0:00:53.250 Using the wind to guide it, 0:00:53.290,0:00:56.557 the plastic bag moves across the city, [br]through the air. 0:00:57.657,0:00:59.571 A city park. 0:00:59.663,0:01:04.061 This park may, at first, seem like an [br]idyllic place for the plastic bag, 0:01:04.153,0:01:07.568 but danger lurks around every corner. 0:01:07.568,0:01:10.070 Here it will encounter many enemies, 0:01:10.070,0:01:11.887 including one of the MOST dangerous... 0:01:12.041,0:01:14.596 Park Services! 0:01:18.750,0:01:24.219 Poor little fellow. Looks like [br]HIS journey ends here. 0:01:25.508,0:01:30.465 Meanwhile, our little bag has encountered [br]one of nature's most deadly killers... 0:01:30.465,0:01:32.472 the Teacup Yorkie. 0:01:32.472,0:01:37.286 Once the Yorkie has locked onto his [br]victim, there is very little hope of survival. 0:01:37.286,0:01:40.300 But using it's superior size and [br]deft manouvering, 0:01:40.300,0:01:47.721 our bag manages to escape the [br]Yorkie's talons and flee for its life. 0:01:50.490,0:01:53.762 Over the course of its [br]miraculous migration, 0:01:53.872,0:01:56.784 the plastic bag will cover VAST distances, 0:01:56.784,0:02:02.001 through neighborhoods, across[br]parks, and down city streets. 0:02:02.581,0:02:06.293 It is now nightfall and our highly [br]advanced Night Vision Cameras 0:02:06.293,0:02:10.297 have managed to capture, for the [br]FIRST TIME in history, 0:02:10.297,0:02:12.841 a plastic bag in pitch black. 0:02:13.241,0:02:16.495 PHENOMENAL! 0:02:16.495,0:02:23.602 The vast cement rivers of California, [br]home to literally dozens of animals. 0:02:24.467,0:02:27.981 Many plastic bags will not make [br]it out of here, 0:02:27.981,0:02:30.901 the reeds and branches will see to that. 0:02:33.132,0:02:37.247 As at home in water as it is [br]on land or in the air, 0:02:37.416,0:02:43.246 the bag's natural buoyancy makes[br]it an excellent swimmer. 0:02:48.031,0:02:49.195 It's close now... 0:02:49.287,0:02:51.864 and it can feel it! 0:02:53.387,0:02:59.361 At last the bag has reached [br]the gateway to the open sea. 0:03:00.823,0:03:04.838 Careful to avoid the mouths of hungry [br]sea-life that feed on the helpless plastic, 0:03:04.858,0:03:12.462 the bag will travel 100s of miles, to join[br]the thriving community of plastic known as 0:03:12.462,0:03:15.863 the GREAT PACIFIC GARBAGE PATCH. 0:03:15.863,0:03:18.895 The Garbage Patch is a [br]veritable plastic oasis, 0:03:18.956,0:03:23.291 where millions of tons of plastic [br]garbage remain entrapped by the currents. 0:03:23.557,0:03:25.411 It is said to be twice the size of Texas, 0:03:25.711,0:03:28.489 never actually biodegrading, 0:03:28.489,0:03:33.226 Here the plastic bag can live indefinitely, [br]peacefully, coexisting with 0:03:33.411,0:03:36.343 billions of other petroleum species, 0:03:36.524,0:03:39.643 before breaking into ever tinier plastic pieces, 0:03:39.643,0:03:45.214 thus completing the plastic cycle of life.