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Inside the plastic vortex

Posted by: Maven on March 21, 2010 at 6:05 am

From YubaNet.com:

“Last summer, minutes before leaving port on a voyage to the North Pacific Ocean Gyre, Chief Scientist Miriam Goldstein was frank about what might and might not be encountered during the expedition to a place that has become known as the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch.” Goldstein made it clear to fellow scientists, cruise volunteers, and a few members of the news media that SEAPLEX would be an exploratory voyage.

The expedition was designed to locate and study plastic and other marine debris in the gyre. But finding the stuff wasn’t guaranteed. In some ways, the voyage would pay tribute to the grand oceanographic exploration days of yesteryear when seagoing scientists plunged into the great unknown of the ocean frontier. SEAPLEX (Scripps Environmental Accumulation of Plastic Expedition) was designed to learn something about the extent of the debris problem. It’s quite possible, Goldstein said, that the graduate student researchers leading the trip-despite diligent preparations and knowledge gained from previous trips headed by the Algalita Marine Research Foundation-might not find any plastic in the gyre.

But less than a week into the voyage such provisos evaporated into wisps of sea air. The plastic indeed was there in the gyre, and there was lots and lots of it. … “

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March 21, 2010 · Filed Under Oceans & Beaches

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