Dotted around the world are  5 great trash vortexes. They are right out there in the middle of the sea and they are huge.  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, is how scientists have described one such.

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.

And it now appears that there are 4 more.

They are called trash Votrexes or the 5 gyres.

What happens is swirling currents collect up all the ocean debris and mix it into a big rubbish soup in the centre of the ocean. In the old days this rubbish was biodegradable so would rot.

Not any more.

These days its plastic which does not rot.

Result a vast expanse of debris – in effect the world’s largest rubbish dump – is held in place by swirling underwater currents.

Is how the Independant newspaper describes it.

Though Greenpeace have been worried for a while

Why are there no photos? Oysters garter has the best answer

Dont fancy reading? Watch one of these scary videos of what lurks beneath the waves

For educational dvds go to http://www.algalita.org/videos-research.html

other articles to read on the subject are Naked man in the tree