An ambitious project to clean up the oceans plastic pollution got underway over the weekend as members of The Ocean Cleanup project began towing their system out to sea. If it works as expected, theyll try to take a bite out of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch -- a huge collection of floating trash thats three times the size of France, or about double the size of Texas. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is the nickname for an area between Hawaii and California, where plastic and other human-made litter and debris accumulate, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The Ocean Cleanup System 001 consists of a 2,000 foot (600 meter) long floating barrier with a 10 foot (3 meter) skirt that hangs below it, under the water. It set sail on Saturday from San Francisco, California, and is being towed 240 nautical miles off shore for a two week test to make sure that it behaves as expected in the open ocean. When its deployed, it will curve into a U-shape as it is pushed by the wind and waves. The slow moving system will corral the plastic floating on the surface, while fish and other ocean life can swim underneath… (CNN, September 10, 2018)