In subtropical gyres, which are sometimes referred to as ‘ocean deserts’, the problem for organisms is not pressure, temperature, lack of light or fluctuating salinity.
The problem here is a lack of nutrients in surface waters: Phosphate, nitrate and sometimes iron. When nutrients are in short supply phytoplankton cannot grow quickly, and the whole food-web suffers. Consequently, large marine creatures are relatively rare here.
The ocean garbage patches are in a region with almost no life; an ‘ocean desert’ and we would be better off preventing more plastic from entering the ocean than trying to clean them.
Make conscious and try to leave a better World for future generations.
