Thank God we have people to protect the children from filthy language!

This article claims the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch - a heap of debris floating in the Pacific that's twice the size of Texas [...] floats where few people ever travel, in a no-man's land between San Francisco and Hawaii."

So I went to Google Maps - here's a view that contains Texas and the space between SF and Hawaii. My question is - why can't I see it on the satellite view?

A quick calculation, assuming the data as stated is correct, says we're dealing with 3.5 million tons of plastic refuse spread over an area twice the size of Texas, or approximately 1.3 million km², which means around 2.7 tons per km², or 2.7 g/m². A plastic bag averages a few grams in weight, so let's assume that means about one plastic bag per square meter. It's not very dense, but surely it should look different from satellite than pristine ocean. What am I missing?

EDIT: My friend Peter, who is a pilot and knows all, pointed out very astutely, "they simply took the topographical imagery and colored it blue." So, the better question is - how do you get satellite imagery of that area?

EDIT2: NASA's World Wind doesn't seem to show anything either, despite the fact that I was pretty sure the Blue Marble imagery covered the planet. I guess I was mistaken, since it looks an awful lot like they're using some sort of topo imagery too: see for yourself

EDIT3: Updated URL (by way of Joan)

EDIT4: Video of going out to the garbage patch - they show the water at around 5:20 into the video. It really doesn't look any different than normal water, so I guess that clears that up. *yawn* Call me when it's dense enough to build on, then we'll talk, people.

You stay classy, Google Trends:


Second strike for machines making funny decisions today.