Net/net of the article: The sun breaks down plastics in the ocean and what is released is bio-available, ie food for stuff.
Those who dine in high school cafeterias have long suspected this.
One problem with that, though. Some plastics do not break down into their chemical components, but break down into smaller and smaller fragments. If the tiniest fragments become concentrated enough in an area it can affect any filter-feeding organisms near the bottom of the food chain (coral, clams/oysters, sardines, menhaden, etc.). They can literally starve to death with full bellies, because there is no nutrition to be had from the plastic.
When the bottom of the food chain is disrupted it affects the higher orders' feeding. Not a good thing.
George Carlin on The Environment
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjmtSkl53h4
Earth needed us to make plastic.