The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

It is roughly the size of Texas, containing approximately 3.5 million tons of trash. Shoes, toys, bags, pacifiers, wrappers, toothbrushes, and bottles too numerous to count are only part of what can be found in this accidental dump floating midway between Hawaii and San Francisco. It is estimated that 80% of the garbage comes from land-based sources, and 20% from ships at sea. Ocean currents carry debris from the east coast of Asia to the center of the gyre in about five years, and debris from the west coast of North America in a year or less

As the plastic garbage degrades into smaller and smaller pieces and disintegrates, the plastic ultimately becomes small enough to be ingested by aquatic organisms which reside near the ocean's surface. Plastic waste then enters the food chain and may eventually be consumed by humans.

So please recycle, reduce the amount of plastics you use, and make sure you dispose of your trash properly.