The Scripps Institution of Oceanography sent a team of scientists to study plastic garbage that has accumulated near the Hawaiian Islands known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The garbage patch is supposedly larger than Texas. All of the trash that eventually makes its way into the ocean is carried, by the currents, to one place: the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

However, not much is known about the exact size, scope, and effects the patch has on the environment. Plastic doesn’t biodegrade, it merely breaks down into smaller pieces. And all those tiny pieces, some smaller than a fingernail, accumulate in one place.

The patch is invisible to the naked eye because it is suspended beneath the ocean’s surface. The scientists hope to discover more about the impact the garbage patch has on plankton, small birds and fish.