This is just one post in the Pacific Ocean Garbage Dump Category

Crossing the Pacific on a raft a junk to bring attention to the Pacific Ocean garbage patch

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on May 20, 2008 at 6:28 am

From the Emerald City Blog:

The average Emerald City reader has likely heard of the infamous “Pacific Garbage Patch”, that mythical swath of debris in the Pacific, the size of Texas. Or was it two Texases or wait, twice the size of the Moon?

Having recently returned from a month long research trip through this massive marine landfill, I’ll clear up few misconceptions:

• The garbage does indeed exist. HOWEVER it is not a “patch” of garbage, nor a trash island. It’s more like a huge bowl of dilute plastic soup, from California to Japan;

• We can’t clean it up, net it away, or sieve it out. It’s an area twice the size of Texas, and the debris is too spread out. Imagine a handful of plastic cornflakes sprinkled over a football field…. Now imagine 9 million football fields in the Pacific Ocean.

12 years ago, Captain Charles Moore accidentally “discovered” the plastic debris debacle in the North Pacific while sailing an infrequently traveled route from Hawaii to Los Angeles. Stunned by the endless river of plastic junk he found – toothbrushes, bottle caps, wrappers, fragments –- Moore decided to return with research tools and scientific sampling methods, to better understand what he saw.

In 1999, Moore et al. published the groundbreaking study, 4,200 miles across the Pacific, collecting surface samples the entire way.

What we found this year: the problem has gotten much, much worse. Though our samples are still being processed, Captain Moore guestimates a 5-fold increase in ten years, bumping plastic to plankton ratios up to 30:1.

And still, we tear through plastic bags and bottles like they’re going out of style…..

Two researchers will be setting sail on a raft of junk from Long Beach to Hawaii, along with messages in bottles which will eventually be delivered to legislators in DC. The Emerald City blog will be updated on their progress. Check out a picture of the raft (which even includes an old airplane body) and find out how you can add your message in a bottle to the expedition by clicking here.

May 20, 2008 · Filed Under Pacific Ocean Garbage Dump