What are eye floaters—and what are they doing in my eye? Hi. These are Eye Floaters . Eye floaters appear as little irregularities that drift slowly across your field of vision. Floaters often look like: Little darkish spots or specks, Threads or strings, or Fragments of cobwebs Floaters in the eye aren’t optical illusions. They’re little bits of debris floating around in your vitreous: the jelly-like filling of your eyeball that helps keep its shape. Sometimes, as these floaters move around, they cast shadows on your retina. This is what you see. Most of the time,they are age-related changes in your vitreous are the cause of eye floaters. Most eye floaters don’t need to be treated. While learning to cope with them costs some time and frustration, many people are able to ignore them more easily over time. When floaters are so large or so numerous they impair your vision, your eye doctor may recommend surgery or laser therapy to remove them.