Response to Comment on The missing ocean plastic sink: Gone with the rivers

Mai et al. are mistaken in their assertions that we incorrectly calculated the residence time for floating microplastic stock at the ocean surface, and that most of our results are not novel. Their claim that our field-measured data and methods were not rigorous is wrong, as shown by a more careful consideration of what was done.

Automated summary

The authors of this article refute the claims made by Mai et al. that their calculations on the residence time of floating microplastic at the ocean surface were incorrect and that their results were not novel. The authors argue that a closer examination of their methods and field-measured data proves the validity of their research.