and that is where all the plastic in the ocean kind of accumulates. there is five of them in each basin and one in the indian ocean. so everything that has been trend in -- thrown in the indian ocean is somewhere in this garbage patch. >> how do these patches form and is it possible, eric, at all to clean them up? >> well, they form essentially because the movement of the water is not two dimensional. it doesn't stay at the surface. it is kind of like a roller coaster ride where the water sinks and other places goes up. and the plastic is buoyant, so as the water sinks, the plastic stays behind. and in the meantime, more and more plastic is being carried into the regions by new water that sinks them. so it is kind of like this internal lube with the plastic