28 October 2006
Plastic Pacific
by Adam, onboard the Esperanza
©Greenpeace/Alex Hofford
The scientific sampling program has now begun in earnest. Our pelagic
marine debris sampler, the courageous and now very well travelled "yellow
thing," has been in action twice. Skimming a meter-wide section of the
ocean's surface, it collects everything floating past, down to 0.3 mm in
size. The initial findings are not good. Considering the narrow strip of
water that we're sampling, the hundreds of plastic particles found
paint a shocking picture. Of course, from the ship we've seen the odd bottle
or fishing buoy floating by. However, other than that, the water looks fine;
crystal clear and beautiful. Yet, in reality, out here, in the middle of
nowhere, the sea's surface is a floating mosaic of plastic. We have
collected a diverse range of particles; mostly fragments of indeterminable
origin but also a number of pre-production pellets (negligently spilt by
industry). Judging by the number of organisms growing on the
plastic, many of these pieces began their journey years ago, potentially from
anywhere around the North Pacific.
Our work is currently being hampered by a factor beyond our control, the
weather. The location of where high pressure that creates the vortex sits
during the summer months is currently the same location as a storm. This churns the
water, mixing plastic down throughout the water column. And even the
gallant yellow thing can't work there. So we are heading east, looking for
the calm.
Comments
Hi Adam,
I am interested in the work you are doing and ways to manage it and clean it up (and prevent it from becomming bigger). Can your team post pictures of what you see once the weather is more cooperative?
Lynn
Posted by: Lynn at December 1, 2006 12:14 AM
2 comments:
I'm interested in toothbrushes retrieved from both of the trash vortices. For the International Toothbrush Collection.
Are there any simple steps that your average citizen should take to protect storm drains? Are there political steps? You mention in some article to protect storm drains. I'd like to see a fuller discussion of that.
Posted by: Maryly at January 18, 2007 7:32 PM
I think this kind of negligent attitude to the worlds environment calls for all people with a brain and a conscience to demand action from our governments. I am going to spend the rest of my life in persuing government to clean up industry and set in place public behaviours in recycling that we used to do when I was a kid. ie. bottle recycling and NO PLASTIC.
I commend you for your work and my heart and mind are with you out there. Give the whaling bastards hell.
Posted by: Sally at January 25, 2007 3:03 AM
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Avast ye land lubbers! The ocean critters need your help!
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