Midway, a plastic island

However, the plastic in the ocean is difficult to be moved away because it is not only on the surface but down to more than 100 feet below the ocean surface. And the plastic garbage islands are also quite far away from lands.

Discover how plastic islands are formed, their impact on the environment and solutions to combat this serious global problem.

Despite the common public perception of the patch existing as giant islands of floating garbage, its low density (4 particles per cubic metre (3.1/cu yd)) prevents detection by satellite imagery, or even by casual boaters or divers in the area.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP), often sensationalized as a plastic island, is more accurately described as a vast, swirling accumulation of marine debris in the North Pacific Ocean.

These results prove that plastic pollution at sea, while densely distributed within the patch, is scattered and does not form a solid mass, thus demystifying the trash island concept.

Since its discovery, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) has often been depicted in the media as a floating mass of plastic, and referred to as a trash island. However, contrary to popular...