Great Pacific Garbage Patch, an "island" the size of a Texas, in the ocean, to face by a gigantic floating ship

The Ocean Cleanup is deploying a multi-pipe vessel between California and Hawaii to trap garbage on the surface.

(The cleaning of the ocean)

Officials are gearing up for the launch of a floating ship – a plan developed by a university dropout – this weekend with the hope that it will serve as a giant garbage collector and will eventually rid the ship. 39, Pacific Ocean from an "island" the size of Texas. .

The Ocean Cleanup Foundation plans to release the 2,000-foot U-shaped device on Saturday. He will be towed across the bay, under the Golden Gate Bridge and will have traveled hundreds of miles offshore, where he will undergo the final tests.

After several tests, which are expected to last at least two weeks, the ship will head to the waste pile that now spans 600,000 square miles between California and Hawaii.

Dutch inventor Boyan Slat, CEO of The Ocean Cleanup, 24, leads the multi-million dollar project.

EXPECTS TO CLEAR THE GREAT DISCHARGE OF THE ORIGIN OF THE PACIFIC, TEXAS SIZE TRASH ISLAND IN THE OCEAN

"After 273 mock-up tests, six offshore prototypes, a complete mapping of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) with 30 ships and one airplane, and several technological iterations, we are now ready to put in place the first ocean cleaning system. in the world. the test, "The Ocean Cleanup said in a statement provided to Fox News.

The ship will float over the water, using a screen attached below to collect plastic and other debris. The floating barrier will then concentrate the plastic waste into a central point where it can be fished out of the water and returned to the mainland for recycling.

If everything goes as planned and the device is a success, The Ocean Cleanup believes they can bring their first batch of plastic to San Francico in the months following the launch.

"During the period when the 001 system is the only active cleaning system, we plan to extract 50 tons of plastic a year.The complete fleet of systems is expected to extract up to 14,000 tons of plastic per year. We estimate that every five years we can remove 50% of the plastic that is flowing through the Great Pacific's garbage storage area once we have achieved the large-scale deployment of 60 systems, "says the organization.

Although the project looks promising, some experts have expressed concern about the impact it could have on marine life – as well as the message it sends.

Eben Schwartz, head of the California Coastal Commission's Marine Debris Program, has already told Fox News that the organization has the "best intentions" but is only tackling a small percentage of the plastic going into oceans every year.

THE GREAT PATCH OF THE PACIFIC POUBES, FLOATING "ISLAND" OF TRASH IN THE OCEAN, IS TWICE THE SIZE OF TEXAS

"Eight million metric tons [of trash] "Every year they enter the oceans around the world," said Schwartz. "Their project could be extremely effective at cleaning the surface, but they only attack at a tiny percentage."

Schwartz, who met with members of The Ocean Cleanup and visited their test facility, said he hoped the project would be a "big hit". However, he is concerned about some of the group's rhetoric.

"My biggest concern is not the project itself, but the message coming out," Schwartz said. "They only clean what's on the surface, we see plastic on the water columns, on the bottom of the ocean, in polar ice caps, the problem is much bigger than the suggests the message. "

However, The Ocean Cleanup says it has never endorsed the message that it is "acceptable" to throw waste, adding that they also do not believe their method is the only solution to the problem.

"While the cleansing of persistent floating ocean plastics is only part of the equation, it's the only solution to an existing problem – even if we stop any plastic from entering the oceans, we have to deal with the problem. Ocean that needs to be cleaned before it breaks down into smaller parts, "said the organization at Fox News in August.

The Ocean Cleanup says that it has not diminished the problem of pollution that affects our oceans – and adds that it just wants to tackle the problem before things happen. s & # 39; worse.

Schwartz also expressed concerns about the impact the craft will have on marine life. The cleaning vessel, consisting of a set of connected pipes, will hook a net 9 feet long underneath to trap the waste.

"The way the ocean works I think it would be almost impossible that there is no impact on the marine life of this device that traps everything on the surface," Schwartz said. "It's going to trap krill, plankton … which makes it a potential breeding ground for animals."

Ocean Cleanup, however, defended its model and pointed to several systems they put in place to protect marine life.

The impenetrable screen of the ship and people looking for signs of marine life as the screen is lifted off the water will help prevent losses, according to Ocean Cleanup.

"We will continually monitor the system and its surroundings with the help of human observers and equipment on and around the system. We will be using PAM, cameras on the system, sonobuoys and AutoNautTM, a remotely controlled autonomous system. surveillance vessel, "the group recently noted.