South Pacific garbage patch

[1] The degradation of plastics in the ocean also leads to a rise in the level of toxics in the area.

[citation needed] The voyage ran from March to April 2011, following a route based on a model of ocean currents developed by Nikolia Maximenko of the University of Hawaii, which predicts floating debris accumulation zones.

[4] A second water sampling voyage departing from Long Beach, California on November 2, 2016, lasting six months, was led by Charles J. Moore, and a team of researchers from Algalita Marine Research and Education.

[7] The composition of the garbage patch consists mainly of microbeads, tiny abrasives less than 5 micrometers in size usually found in certain personal hygiene products,[8] microscopic fibers from washing clothes,[9] fishing debris from southern hemisphere fishermen,[10] and microscopic fragments of larger pieces which have been broken down in the ocean.

[9] The elevated levels of pollutants can be detected over a vast area estimated to be 2.6 million square kilometers (one million square miles), or about 1.5 times the size of Texas,[3] with the debris found along a nearly 2,500 nautical mile straight line route.