Collecting a large bank of imagery was extremely important for the project, for both science and communication. I discussed these trials with Corbin Marshall, one of our lead photographers, after our return from sea. “I think the largest challenge of the media side of the project was debunking the myth of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch without downplaying it to the public. Many people have the idea that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a massive floating island of garbage that you can walk on,” he said. “At no point did we find a massive collection of debris all packed together. Instead what we found was scattered debris and thousands of microplastics littering the surface. Many people would see that as ‘less harmful’ to the ocean because it is visually less immense.”