This appeared recently in the British paper The Independent:

A "plastic soup" of waste floating in the Pacific Ocean is growing at an alarming rate and now covers an area twice the size of the continental United States, scientists have said.
The vast expanse of debris – in effect the world's largest rubbish dump – is held in place by swirling underwater currents. This drifting "soup" stretches from about 500 nautical miles off the Californian coast, across the northern Pacific, past Hawaii and almost as far as Japan.

Does this strike anyone else as a big deal?
</img> </img> </img>


(Source Link)

This IS a big deal!

In essence, humans - through their largely selfish, carefree behavior - have allowed their "world" to spill over (plastic and all) into the aquatic world. As a result, myriad innocent creatures are (or will be) dying from either consuming this waste or becoming entangled in it.

Some have said that this is too large to clean up. I say B.S.! If we (as in all consumers of plastic) made the mess, then we need to clean it up. How? I propose a fleet of immense vessels, each at least the size of a supertanker. These vessels would be fitted with a scoop, filter, and conveyor system that would reach down into the water approximately 30 feet. Plastic particles would either pass through or be trapped by one of several increasingly smaller filters. Once trapped, these particles would be conveyed up and into the open hull of the vessel.

The vessel could be completely automated, partially or completely solar powered, and would be monitored via satellite and on-shore tracking systems. It would slowly roam the ocean until full, and then return to port for off-loading. The plastic could then be separated and properly recycled.

Expensive? Probably, but something needs to be done (aside from preventing more plastic from entering the ocean). The cost of these vessels should be bourne by all nations whose rivers/sewage systems lead to the Pacific Ocean. Won't this take a long time? Of course, but it also took us about 50 to 60 years to reach this point. The bottom line: we need to start now!

Here is some more information about the Pacific Garbage Patch:

(Mini Documentary)

(NBC)

__________________
"Just because you can, doesn't mean you should."
-- Author Unknown

It's not the ideal situation, but it's too late to stop. We probably can't clean it up, because the plastic is undoubtedly the habitat for many creatures.

I disagree with cleanup. I bet the plastic has a lot of organisms growing on it, and I will bet that others use the shade from the plastic for shelter. While we definitely need to stop adding to it, destroying it will have negative effects on living things as well.