Charles Moore of Algalita Marine Research Foundation holds up a collection of virgin plastic pellets, or nurdles, on Kahuku beach. The virgin plastic pellets are spilt during poor handling by the plastic manufacturers, and end up throughout the world's oceans where they may be mistaken for fish eggs and eaten by marine creatures. This is part of the Ocean Defenders Campaign in which the Greenpeace ship Esperanza MV sails to the Pacific Ocean, sometimes referred to as the North Pacific garbage patch, to document the threat that plastic poses to the environment and sea life.