5 Gyres - Understanding Plastic Pollution Through Exploration, Education, and Action

Here's the latest from crewmember Dougal, from ASR Ltd:

Changing tack for the first time after four days of close hauled sailing is interesting to say the least. The gentle and sometimes not so gentle bouncing of the Sea Dragon had comfortably nestled everything into the starboard side of the boat but now the sudden change in the heel of the boat (now to port) made for some time spent tidying up. But on day five everyone on board is feeling fully adjusted to life at sea and the memory of stable ground underfoot is becoming distant.

Trawling is now underway in earnest and the new high speed trawl is allowing for constant sampling of plastic without compromising boat speed.  Plastic fragments and small pieces of monofilament line have been abundant in all trawls although the quantity does fluctuate.  Down time between trawl retrievals has left plenty of time for discussion about future research directions into quantifying plastic densities throughout oceans.

What has also really opened my eyes is just how much debris there is at sea when you start to look for it. Everyone on deck has half an eye open for larger pieces of debris and today a hard hat idly drifted by and at one point the trawl had to be temporarily stopped after it ensnared a large ball of assorted ropes and fishing lines.  When you consider just how small an area is observed from the path of Sea Dragon and the vastness of the ocean, it doesn’t take much mental agility to realize just how much plastic pollution is out there.

The ocean has not been unkind to us in the last 24 hours however and we have had frequent visitations by dolphins breaking the eerily glassy sea surface. But the real treat came earlier today. I was chopping vegetables for our midday frugal repast when I was interrupted by shouts on deck. I stumbled up to the cockpit through the briny film of tears (what do they put in Brazilian onions?!?!) just in time to see a huge whale tail slapping the sea off the port bow.  It breached four more times once almost coming completely out of the water. For many of us including myself it was the first time we had seen a whale and it was truly awe inspiring. We are still unsure as to the species of the whale but if any of you are curious as to what the sea surface looks like seconds after a whale has left the scene, we have photographic examples in abundance.

Up until now we have been traveling eastwards from Rio de Janeiro into the gyre but today we are beginning to travel northwards towards Ascension Island and the northern edge of the gyre there to measure the extent of plastic pollution floating within for the first time.

Dougal Greer, Crew member, Sea Dragon

The latest from Marcus aboard the Sea Dragon:

It's now day 3 in the South Atlantic Subtropical Gyre. There is more plastic in each of the two trawls we're using. We have a traditional plankton tow that can be used at 3 knots of speed maximum. Since we can't cross the ocean at 3 knots, we're limited to trawling a couple of hours each day. To solve this we built the HI-SPEED trawl. Imagine a miniature model of the Starship Enterprise from the Star Trek TV series. It looks like that, but with a big vertical mouth for gulping seawater. The beauty of this new design is that it can travel 7-10 knots and still capture the surface of the ocean without surfing above it or diving below. It's our new invention and it works beautifully. We've deployed it twice. Each time it's filled with more plastic as we sail deeper into the widening gyre. Here's a reminder from our Indian Ocean Gyre expedition of why Captains will love to high speed trawl:



We are now in the accumulation zone of the South Atlantic Subtropical Gyre. Every trawl is filled with the typical confetti of plastic fragments. It's now 10:00pm and the hi-speed trawl will be deployed till sunrise. At night we expect to find fish in the net, which we will investigate for plastic ingestion. There are 1,400 nautical miles and 10 days to go. More tomorrow...

The latest from Marcus on the Sea Dragon "those of us on land are always thrilled to get news. Despite almost half the crew flattened by seasickness, it sounds like the mission is well underway... "

Christo stands with arms open wide, city lights spread through the valleys and surrounding the coast, and jets soaring over our head as we sail across the end of the runway.  I don't know what Rio de Janiero was like 300 years ago, but it was nothing like this.  Charles Darwin reported a large breeding population in the bay when he came here aboard the Beagle.  Aboard the Sea Dragon there are no such sightings.  The foul smell of raw sewage in the marina is behind us.  A full moon pulls us to sea.



The EEZ is the Exclusive Economic Zone that creates a 200-mile boundary from the Brazilian coast that is off limits to our research.  We cannot test CO2 in the water, collect fish or trawl for plastic debris.  And that's all right by me and most of the crew that takes turn pouring their stomachs into the sea.  20-25 knot winds keeps Clive and Dale, the Skipper and First Mate on their toes, and the rest of us on our backs.  At mile 217 east of Rio we throw in the trawl.

1.5 hours later we pull up the first scientific trawl for plastic in the South Atlantic Subtropical Gyre.  Among Man-o-war jellyfish, and zooplankton, there's a confetti of plastic.  It's the same thing we've seen in the North Pacific, North Atlantic, and Indian Ocean.  Gyres collect waste, and the 5 subtropical gyres have the highest concentrations.  During the next 12 days we'll sample during the day and night to get an idea of the spatial distribution of plastic waste here.  The predicted accumulation zone is south of our present location, but we'll skim the top of the gyre and then head north to Ascension Island.

Ascension Island should be an interesting oasis, sitting in between Africa and South America.  It receives currents coming out of the east rising up from the African coast.  Bucky McMahon, GQ journalist, adventurer, author and diver, introduced me to the concept of "Coastering".  It's a simple idea, find an island and walk the coast until you're back where you started.  Ascension Island is roughly 7 miles in diameter, so it will be a 25 mile, 2-day hike.  I hope we can pull it off.  I definitely want to see what's washed ashore.

Wrapping up the final day of the Blue Ocean Film Festival in Monterey, where 5 Gyres was invited to speak on a panel following a screening of Bag It, joining Fabien Cousteau, Suzan Beraza from REEL Thing  Productions, Daniella Russo from the Plastic Pollution Coalition,
and Ximena Waissbluth from Surfider Foundation.

This was my second time seeing Bag It (and my second panel discussion in less than a week) and it was even better the second time around. A wonderfully personal look at the plastic pollution issue. Includes clips with two 5 Gyres reps - myself, and Marcus on the JUNKraft.

After 3 packed days of tremendous speakers, films, and conversations with ocean heroes too numerous to count, a few key messages stand out. Our oceans are in critical condition, despite decades of ocean conservationists screaming for change. And our best hope for change lies in the next generation.


Speaker after speaker, from Sylvia Earle to Julie Packard to the creators of the IMAX films to the Cousteau family, J. Nichols, Carl Safina and others stressed the importance of educating the next generation about our oceans.  Below, Jean-Michel, Fabien and Celine Cousteau, along with Holly Lohuis from Ocean Futures take the stage after a moving film tracing the legacy of Jacques Cousteau, whose famous words "we protect what we love" have never rung truer.


I'm more inspired than ever to return home, with a mountain of cards from new friends and fellow ocean advocates, and get to work. I find myself wondering - if we knew now that in 30, 40, or 50 years, life as we know it would come grinding to a halt, what would we do differently? Do we have enough information now to act accordingly? We need to make MUCH....MORE....NOISE.

Now to the Blue Carpet awards ceremony!