To become 'becalmed' when sailing could be considered a curse, or is at very least an inconvenience. After eight days and 1500 kilometres of rough seas north of Hawaii to be becalmed was all I could dream for. My journey to the middle of the North Pacific Ocean on a 72-foot sailboat to research plastic pollution started around four years ago when I travelled to India and saw huge levels of trash entering waterways and the ocean.
I was confronted by the realisation that my big blue backyard was under attack from levels of plastic pollution I'd never thought imaginable, so I started organising informal beach clean ups in my local area on the Central Coast of NSW. (...)

The article:
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2011/09/12/3314107.htm

Basic information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_Garbage_Patch

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La Campagna WWF "SOS Plastica":

http://mediterraneo.wwf.it/sos-plastica.html