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The second one involved neuston nets towed at the surface to take samples at nine stations.

While removing ocean plastic is important, Helm says, she worries about how this technology is affecting the assemblage of marine life living at the ocean’s surface, which is known collectively as the neuston.

Egger co-authored a study in 2021 which found that there is a higher plastic-to-organism ratio of neuston inside the Great Pacific Garbage Patch area than outside of it.

Despite these findings, the nonprofit’s website states that their technology will still have “negligible to low” impact on the neuston, a conclusion that the group says is supported by samples they collected around the system in their most recent environmental impact assessment.

However, some scientists are skeptical that plastic-removal device companies can claim a minimal impact on neuston given how much we still don’t know about these organisms.