During the months of March and April 2005 the GhostNet team flew a series of survey flights in the North Pacific in an effort to detect and map marine debris. Following specific routes described by evaluating satellite data, the remote sensing equipment installed on a NOAA P3 aircraft was able to detect and image over 2000 pieces of debris including 100 net or net pieces.
Now that an accurate detection and tracking method has been proven, net removal at sea could take place within the next year.