I totally agree with Alttext's comment in their blog that "don't know how ... everyone doesn't know about this already - but there is a huge, continent-sized, pile of garbage floating in the Pacific Ocean." Incredible, amazing and completely shaming, but absolutely true.....
Plastic. Plastic. And more - plastic. Damn. Hydrocarbons for the masses - even if your mass is about the size of Texas....
I was astounded to find that trying to clean up the problem would probably cause more damage to the marine environment - cleaning the beaches is a great start, but maybe fixing the problem should involve more effort directed to fixing what is causing the problem.....