( CNN ) -- A marine expedition of environmentalists has confirmed the bad news it feared -- the `` Great Pacific Garbage Patch '' extends even further than previously known . Organized by two non-profit groups -- the Algalita Marine Research Foundation and the 5 Gyres Institute -- the expedition is sailing from the Marshall Islands to Japan through a `` synthetic soup '' of plastic in the North Pacific Ocean on a 72-feet yacht called the Sea Dragon , provided by Pangaea Exploration . The area is part of one of the ocean 's five tropical gyres -- regions where bodies of water converge , with currents delivering high concentrations of plastic debris . The Sea Dragon is visiting the previously unexplored western half of the North Pacific gyre -- situated below the 35th parallel , and home to a massive expanse of plastic particles known as the `` Great Pacific Garbage Patch '' -- to look for plastic pollution and study its effect on marine life . Leading the expedition is Marcus Eriksen , a former U.S. marine and Ph.D student from University of Southern California . `` We 've been finding lots of micro plastics , all the size of a grain of rice or a small marble , '' Eriksen said via satellite phone . `` We drag our nets and come up with a small handful , like confetti -- 10 , 20 , 30 fragments at a time . That 's how it 's been , every trawl we 've done for the last thousand miles . '' Eriksen , who has sailed through all five gyres , said this confirmed for him `` that the world 's oceans are 'plasticized . ' Everywhere you go in the ocean , you 're going to find this plastic waste . '' Growing glaciers smother climate debate . Besides documenting the existence of plastic pollution , the expedition intends to study how long it takes for communities of barnacles , crabs and molluscs to establish , whether the plastic can serve as a raft for species to cross continents , and the prevalence of chemical pollutants . On a second leg from Tokyo to Hawaii departing May 30 , the team expect to encounter material dislodged by the Japanese tsunami . `` We 'll be looking for debris that 's sub-surface : overturned boats , refrigerators , things that wind is not affecting , '' Eriksen said . `` We 'll get an idea of how much is out there , what 's going on and what it 's carrying with it , in terms of toxins . '' Scripps Institute graduate Miriam Goldstein was chief scientist on a similar expedition to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in 2009 . According to her research , there has been a 100-fold increase in plastic garbage in the last 40 years , most of it broken down into tiny crumbs to form a concentrated soup . The particles are so small and profuse that they ca n't be dredged out . `` You need a net with very fine mesh and then you 're catching baby fish , baby squid -- everything , '' Goldstein says . `` For every gram of plastic you 're taking out , you probably take out more or less the equivalent of sea life . '' Scientists are worried that the marine organisms that adapt to the plastic could displace existing species . Goldstein said this was a major concern , as organisms that grow on hard surfaces tend to monopolize already scarce food , to the detriment of other species . `` Things that can grow on the plastic are kind of weedy and low diversity -- a parallel of the things that grow on the sides of docks , '' she says . `` We do n't necessarily want an ocean stuffed with barnacles . '' Sea-level rise : Impacts and mitigation measures around the world . Eriksen says the mood on the Sea Dragon has been upbeat , with crew members playing a ukulele and doing yoga , `` but the sobering reality is that we 're trawling through a synthetic soup . '' Also on board is Valerie Lecoeur , founder of a company that makes eco-friendly baby and children 's products , including biodegradable beach toys made from corn , and Michael Brown from Packaging 2.0 , a packaging consultancy . Eriksen says they have been discussing the concept of `` extended producer responsibility '' . `` As the manufacturer of any good in the world today , you really ca n't make your product without a plan for its entire use , because you could eventually have 7 billion customers buy your product , '' he said . `` If one little button has no plan , the world now has a mountain of buttons to deal with . There is no room for waste , as a concept or a place -- there 's just no place to put it anymore . That 's the reality we need to face . We 've got this plastic everywhere . ''
A research expedition has discovered plastic in the last unexplored part of the ocean . The crew , which includes marine experts , is studying the effects on marine life of plastic ##s . It will next attempt to measure the density and toxicity of Japanese tsunami debris . Plastic in the ocean has increased 100-fold in the last 40 years , scientists estimate .