Invader alert: Ocean invertebrates such as barnacles originating from Japan’s coastal waters are colonizing plastic debris in the open ocean — attaching to floating trash, and multiplying — and could end up on and near Hawaii’s coastline, disrupting ecosystems and endangering native species.

Species not typically found in the open ocean are finding safe harbor in “the vast and expanding sea of plastic debris” known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, northwest of the Hawaiian Islands, researchers with the University of Hawaii and Smithsonian Environmental Research Center report. Meanwhile: Plastic pollution worldwide is expected to grow exponentially, unless counter-actions are taken.