Researchers sample giant rubbish vortex in Pacific Ocean as part of global, clean-up proposal

Researchers have returned from mapping and sampling a massive, swirling cluster of rubbish floating in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, as part of a mission to clean up the vortex.

The crew of the Ocean Cleanup, backed by volunteers in sailing boats, returned to San Francisco after mapping and sampling the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” — a swirling mass of human-linked debris spanning hundreds of miles of open sea where plastic outnumbers living organisms by factors in the hundreds.

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