French swimmer continues journey from Hawaii to San Francisco through Great Pacific garbage patch

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- A French swimmer is continuing his journey from Hawaii to San Francisco through the Great Pacific garbage patch.

Ben Lecomte and his team left Hawaii last month. They've now reached the center of the patch.

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The group has been towing a net and collecting micro-plastic.

"Right now, being in the vortex, in the core of it, we collected, at one time, 3,000 pieces of micro-plastic in 30 minutes," Lecomte said.

They say they've seen floating trash every day and witnessed how it's changing the ecosystem.

Lecomte hopes to reach San Francisco in late August.