Lindsey Hoshaw, grad student from Stanford University and freelance writer, is also on the third leg of this voyage out into the North Pacific Garbage Patch. Lindsey was contacted by the founder of eBay Pierre Omidyar. Pierre visited our ship yesterday to meet Lindsey and to check out the research vessel responsible for bringing awareness to the issue of marine debris that is accumulating in the North Pacific Gyre. Here's some footage of Pierre's visit while Dr. Bill Cooper and Charlie Moore talk to Pierre about the problem with plastics and its effect on marine life.
The items on the table are umbrella handles Charlie collects from the North Pacific Gyre and islands they wash up on like Kamilo Bay.
This blog shares the research experiences and findings conducted at University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW faculty and students) in conjunction with Plastic Ocean Project. Earlier posts share open-ocean sampling and adventures in the North and South Atlantic, the South Pacific and the North Pacific Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Outreach and education is the primary purposes to bring global awareness to an issue that has reached a crisis level in the marine environment.
Hi Bonnie,
ReplyDeleteIn the video, Dr. Cooper says there is 223,000 tons of micro plastic in the gyre----that's the gyre in the Atlantic, correct? It is all just unbelievable!
Again, thanks to all of you for this incredible research. Maybe it will help in getting plastic bags banned and consumption of plastic decreased as a whole.
Ginger Taylor
Yes, that estimate came from our preliminarly trawls in the Sargasso Sea and does not include the big stuff we pulled out. It's a big problem and these voyages are the only way to bring awareness. The next video is equally powerful. Stay tuned and thanks for following.
ReplyDelete