Oceanographers are not surprised that garbage collects in the North Pacific.
A pattern of winds and currents, called the North Pacific Gyre, gathers, this garbage.
Water in the gyre goes round and round in a clockwise pattern, and anything that gets into the middle of it is trapped.
This natural process has continued for millions of years.
Organic garbage, such as food, tree branches, and paper, gets broken down by bacteria and chemicals.
It returns to its original parts and re-enters the environment.
The difference is that now most of the garbage is plastic, and plastic is inorganic.
Bacteria and chemicals in the seawater cannot break it down.
Plastic will therefore stay in the environment for hundreds or even thousands of years.