File:Ben Lecomte enters the Pacific.jpg

France's Ben Lecomte starts out on his journey across the Pacific Ocean from Japan

He swam from Japan to Hawaii and at times saw a piece of plastic in the ocean every three minutes

Lecomte, associate director of sustainability services at a consulting firm, and the crew of his support boat Discoverer set off from Chōshi, Japan. He had aimed to swim eight hours a day, covering a daily average of 30 miles.

Researchers from 12 scientific institutions, including NASA and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, conducted studies and gathered samples during Lecomte's journey.

The researchers focused on eight areas of interest, including plastic pollution, radiation from the Fukushima disaster, and the swim's effects on Lecomte's heart and psychological state.

(As the cross-Pacific attempt ended in Hawaii...)

Despite the setback with the weather, Lecomte said he still hopes to eventually finish his swim to San Francisco and continue to sound the alarm about plastic pollution.

"The mission doesn't ever stop. It will carry on with the same ideas, bringing as much awareness on ocean pollution, on plastic, to try to inspire people to change their habit," he said. "It's the way we live on land, the way we don't recycle, the way that we use single-use plastic also contributes a lot, so we have to change that."

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