Thursday, September 17, 2009

Day 10

Noon Position 30 46371N, 158 51.071W

Blog 10 Wednesday 9/16/09
Last night, we sent a picture of stuff Captain Moore pulled out of the ocean while riding around on the dinghy. The fish he caught in the picture were actually inside the plastic pollution while others were living on it. Here is what you can see in the picture (even though there were many more):

2 trigger fish
2 Hawaiian sergeants
2 different crabs
2 fire worms (polychaetes)
2 Goose neck barnacles (that you can see)
Pretty impressive catch I’d say!

Yesterday’s blog hinted toward a lull in action as we waited to here if our guests were coming. It looks like it’s a go so here it is. We have a production company flying out to this location via a Billabong seaplane. We don’t know who the cast members are yet, but we do know some main players are Captain Moore and some plastic pollution. Mike Prickett is producing the film. They’ll be snorkeling and interviewing and we’ll all be talking trash as we run PowerPoints and share the mission of AMRF. We’re pretty stoked!

Even though ORV Alguita hasn’t done much but go around in circles for 48 plus hours, we are getting quite the well-rounded perspective on sea animal and human transportation. This morning on my watch, we had not one but two more ships pass by. One was only 3.5 miles away which is something like a near miss. No worries, the captain watched over things to insure we didn’t have some unexpected visitors. Three ships in less than 12 hours - pretty exciting considering we haven’t seen any marine vessels in eight days!

Speaking of marine vessels, here’s a fish with its own (see photo above.) Bill took me out on the dinghy so I could practice videotaping dinghy style for tomorrows big seaplane landing when we noticed a large plastic dish-looking object about 18” around. We drove over to it and found not only a trigger fish lying on its side in the dish, but also a Hawaiian sergeant. We aren’t sure if the fish were sunning or stuck. Compliments of ocean plastic, we aren’t the only ones with flotation devices.

We stopped seeing the red-footed boobies. They only travel so far North and for the past five nights we haven’t seen a hide nor feather of them. But interestingly enough, we have started to seeblack-footed albatross (photo above.) They are a magnificent bird that can fly a 1000 miles foraging for food and if the wind conditions are right, they only need to flap their wings a few times. Their nine foot wing span and unique wing design may have a lot to do with it. Check out this black-footed albatross as it gets a running start while launching itself through the air. Seaplanes and albatross - what fantastic opportunities we are getting to witness out here over 550 miles from land.


They aren’t the only things that can fly. Check out Lindsey getting ready to launch off of the mainsail beam

plunge 9 meters down and me showing her how its done. Good times.
More later.
Bonnie

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Noon Position 30 43.967 N, 158 57.883W

Blog 9 Tuesday 9/15/09
First, I have a correction. The sea anchor is closer to 24 feet in diameter. And I have to admit, it’s been a little bit of a preoccupation for a couple of reasons. One reason is, we are drifting trying to keep a location as best we can for the past two days so there hasn’t been a lot going on. I went out on the bow today and watched the sea anchor swim deep below the surface. (The water is that clear!) Because it has several lines that connect to the bridle and then two lines that connect it to the front of the ship (one on the starboard side another on the port side), it looks much like a huge jelly fish. The lines emulate tentacles as the parachute fills wide with water then squeezes inward and repeats the motion. I had no idea such a simple concept could hold back the 25 plus ton RV Alguita from traveling faster than a knot. Pretty cool.

The other reason why I’m trying to keep myself busy is because we’re waiting on visitors. Remember I mentioned there was a reason for holding our position. Well, one was to try the experiment that didn’t bode well and the other is, we are waiting on a special visit. They were supposed to arrive tomorrow, but due to ocean conditions it’s been delayed. Right now the sea state is working back down from a five this morning to a three. We need it to be closer to a one to make it happen. It’s all very exciting and I’ll keep you posted as the potential event unfolds.


We did have an unexpected ship sighting that was about six miles away. “Research vessel Alguita to Antonis a Gelicousis can you read me on channel 16 over?” Captain Moore sent over the airways. And after several attempts a voice came back with either a French or Asian accent, we couldn’t decide. The voice came back requesting us to change the channel to 12 so we could talk. We explained that we were doing research and were anchored making it difficult to change positions. The Captain asked where they departed from, and the voice said, “Los Angles,” then the Captain inquired about their destination, and the voice replied, “Singapore.” Each Captain wished safe travels and then it was over. Check out this picture Jeff Ernest took of it when it was six miles away. It looks like a ghost ship.

We’ve been cleaning the place up for visitors. I cleaned windows and the bathroom. Gwen vacuumed, and Bill got rid of some food supplies that didn’t make it. It’s a team sport! The Captain made the day more interesting by going out on the dingy looking for plastics. Since the sea state is still rough and we aren’t really traveling vary far, we aren’t seeing the swath of Open Ocean like we had in previous days. Not long after he left, he was back again with plastic gadgets from the sea. “Any one lose a toilet brush? How about some caulking?” Look at all the animals that live in or on the plastic pollution the Captain found, can you count them? (see the photo at the beginning of the blog)

More later.

Bonnie

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Noon Coordinates: 30°50'57.96"N, 159° 1'9.24"W

Monday 9/14/09 -The Experiment

We’ve been trying to hold a position since last night. That is, as best we can with a sea anchor. Since it’s too deep to have an anchor reach the bottom, we use a sea anchor. How a sea anchor works is it has a 10’ diameter circular opening at the front end but only a 2’ diameter circular opening on the back end. It works like an underwater parachute, slowing the boat down as it drags it through the water. So we’re moving but usually under one knot.

Since AMRF started, Captain Moore has wanted to try an experiment, but there’s never been enough time. We found a couple of days to try it. So last night, with a sea state of one, we tied nine buoys together with the huge freighter rope that we retrieved and made an island of plastic that was tethered to the ship. The idea was to see how long it took for marine life to take refuge under it and to also see what types of fish it would attract.

We woke to a sea state of three and by 1000, the sea state jumped to a six. Constant whitecaps frothed with 10’ swells that took our experiment and twisted into a bunch of knots. Before any of the buoys could be torn away by the force, we had to get them out. Not trivial. It took all of us - using the winch to lift it enough to untangle it while hanging over the railing looked much like riding a mechanical bull. Sometimes a knife was needed. Using a knife when the ship is riding up the side of one swell while being rock sideways by another and then slapped back down is a scary thought. I was happy to run the winch or carry the untethered buoys to the back of the ship. With the wind up at 25 knots and the waves crashing against Alguita, it was difficult to hear. It took unspoken cooperation of all of us - each watching the actions of the others so as to know when you could step in, reading each moment knowing that this was a serious situation and we all depended on each other. Here was a perfect example of how the ocean can change and present a situation that will require all hands on deck. And here, on the ocean, creates many opportunities to work for the common good.

Before the ocean decided to turn on us this morning, the Captain and Lindsey took the dingy out so Lindsey could get some pictures of Alguita as well as look for some big pieces of plastics to bring in since the ship was anchored. But because the sea state was much rougher than the day before, they weren’t finding much of anything. They did find some tangled up, photo-degraded rope, but it was down too deep for them to retrieve by hand. Here’s why, when the surface is rough, the plastics cannot float as easily on the surface making them impossible to see. This highlights another issue with determining just how much plastic is out here. What we have been trawling for and the items we have been collecting only express what we are finding on the surface when it is relatively calm.

After our buoy ordeal, the Captain thought it best to bring the dingy on deck. Here’s where Jeff, who Marcus and Ana call "Boat Monkey", lived up to his nickname. Remember the sea state is a six and the dingy is not only rockin’ and rollin’, but its getting slapped full of water every couple of waves. Without a second thought, Jeff jumped from the stern into the dingy. He fought to keep his balance as he bailed with one hand, pulled in oars that were on they’re way out, and ducked the line from the ship that came close to clothes-lining him a few times. As soon as he got most of the water out a huge swell came and nearly knocked him out as the rouge wave rolled in. He rode it through like a rodeo with the rope flying, his hands flailing as his ride bucked several feet in the air. Amazing balance and coordination! Shortly after the dingy rested on the stern, the Captain declared the remainder of the day a Rest Day

Video -Plastics Washing In

It's amateur night at the Plastic Pollution Apollo.

This video is plastic fragments washing in at John Smith's Bay in Bermuda. If you look closely, you can see the pieces. The fragments are small; it's hard to capture these images in a high enough resolution for viewing online. They are easily visible at full size, so maybe a YouTube video is in order.

-posted by Jennifer O'Keefe

Monday, September 14, 2009

Day 7, Sunday 9/13/09

Within an hour of setting our fishing poles last evening, we caught a five footer. Not a fish, but plastic fishing rope. Over the past 10 years, AMRF has been finding more and more plastic pollution, like the polymer rope, on the end of their fishing lines when out in the Pacific. The fishing was over by dark with only the plastic catch to show for it, but we did catch some wind that crept up to 16 knots yesterday. It peaked at 1800 hours, but then steadily dropped off. This segues into my morning watch. I promise not to bring up my morning watch again for awhile, but this is important.

Orion, who was at the aft of the ship yesterday morning, was now back on my starboard side which means we changed directions again. The reason why we’ve been jockeying around is to get into a specific location. I will tell you more about that tomorrow. Anyway, I hadn’t worked my shift but 20 minutes when the captain showed up. What brought him to the bridge was the wind slapping time against the near listless sails. I had pointed the ship five degrees into the wind portside after Gwen had added 10 degrees just before my shift started. But it was mute; the sails had to come down. I stepped out into the early morning air and the ocean was like a lake. Sea state one - the ocean was like an antique glass pane with subtle ripples. The night so quiet the only thing I could hear was whining rope lines and the occasional slamming sails. But after letting down the genoa and main sails, they were gone too.

Because it was so calm, it made for a great day to trawl and so we did starting at 0500. We are not in the Garbage Patch yet, but today you might have thought we were. We were running two trawls at a time and each time the trawls came in with ample of plastics particles that rivaled the natural organisms that should be there. We ran three sets of two running trawls, each for one hour. Here are two of the samples we collected;

After receiving a request to try to take a picture of the plastic bits floating past the ship, I decided an easier way might be to catch the pieces because taking a picture would be extremely difficult with the ship moving and the pieces randomly floating across a 25’ wide bow. Using a small net, not much bigger than my hand, I set the timer for 10 minutes and started plucking. It was not trivial and the first five minutes there was a huge learning curve. To an onlooker, it must have looked like a possessed pole. It had more control than I did. But by the time I was finished, I collected 22 pieces of plastic fragments! But the ones I missed were easily 10 fold than what I caught. (See first picture.)As I had mentioned earlier, we are on a mission to get to a location so by 1300 hours we were cruising at close to 10 knots engine power. Most of us sat on the bow enjoying the perfect 80o weather with blue skies and speed-bump-free waters while looking for plastics. If it came by the ship close enough, we would try to scoop it out. All kinds of stuff floated by that were too far for our nets to reach - buoys, bottles, crates, Styrofoam chunks, fishing gear, jugs, and large broken fragments. After several attempts, Bill decided to give it up until he saw a blue 10 gallon bucket labeled corrosive coming right for us. He patiently waited for it gently flow into his net and then gave it a yank.. That’s when we realized it was heavy because it almost pulled him over the rail.But the mother load of plastic catching today was a 55 gallon drum made out of plastic. This one required the A frame. But before we took it out, Lindsey, Jeff, the captain and I jumped in. We snorkeled with the fish that were both under it and inside of it. The captain and Jeff stayed in to lasso the drum and guide it in while Gwen steered the boat, Lindsey and Bill managed the line and I ran the winch. Once it was finally on deck, we all got a laugh when we realized nine fish were still inside of it.
More later, Bonnie

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Day 6 9/12/09
Each of us take (2) two hour shifts captaining Alguita each day. Mine run from 0400-0600 and again from1600 to 1800 hours. I’m not a morning person but I look forward to my 4-6 am shift to watch the sunrise from the captain’s chair. Above it is a hatch that we poke our heads through to watch the weather and check the sails (if they’re up) as well as look for any on-coming traffic or debris. We haven’t seen another boat or heard (or seen) any air traffic in five days. We are completely alone out here on the 159th parallel. The only things showing up on the radar are some thunderheads. I pop out the hatch to make sure then feel the rain on my face. The chance of running into debris is much higher. On the last leg, Alguita had two mishaps with derelict nets that got stuck in the props. Because this debris, called Ghost Nets, float close to the surface, but don’t always break it, they are difficult to see even when standing looking over the bow. In the dark it’s even more of a challenge. None the less, standing on the captain’s chair and watching the sun come up to greet moon is a pretty rare sight - in my world anyway.

For the past couple of days we traveled over the Musicians Sea Mountains - without even changing altitude! One of them we passed over named, Brahms Mountain, is over two miles high and we still cleared it by a mile. So the sea floor was actually three miles below us. Others in this mountain range are called Schubert, Handel, and Mozart to name a few.

With Jeff still sleeping, the Captain decided to put up some sails. That meant I was going to have to step-up to the plate to help put up the Stay Sail and the Main. Not having any sailing experience I’ve been the weak link and am confident if we were a reality show I would have been voted off the boat the second day. But Lindsey, Bill, the captain and I put it up like pros. Shortly after, I was standing by the captain’s chair and the Captain bent down to pick up a red plastic handle to a drawer that was mysteriously on the floor. He handed it to me and made a comment that it was the Handle Award because I’m finally getting a handle on how to sail! No one knows where the handle came from but I had to admit it was fitting. I am starting to get it finally. And we are now traveling at about 6 knots on free fuel.

We had a lot of rain most of the day today with a sea state of four. Water rushed over the bow as Alguita made its way up one wave and down another. Waves slammed under the haul with a loud boom. Scuba Drew calls them water bombs, I call them speed bumps - coming from Wilmington, NC the speed bump capital of the world I know what they sound like on the bottom of a car.

Bad weather doesn’t stop a young salt like Jeff. He put a couple of fishing lines out and within a few minutes caught a 27 standard length Mahi Mahi. It was too small to eat (really?) so Gwen had to prepare it for sampling in her lab later. Off to see if we caught any more fish.
More later.

Bonnie

Catching up... video from Hawaii from last week

Bonnie sent several videos from Hawaii last week and I am catching up on posting them. Please - keep up with either this blog, www.orvalguita.blogspot.com or www.lindseyhoshaw.wordpress.com

Visit our YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/theplasticocean

Yes, I will work on correcting the video. I've learned alot this week about videos and YouTube but not enough.

Thanks for watching. Pass the word along to friends and family.

-posted by Jennifer O'Keefe