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

At last weeks International Youth Summit on Plastic Pollution, Keynote speaker Dr. J. Nichols gave everyone a Blue Marble - a symbol to pass along in support of clean oceans. 

I never imagined that one week later, in Santiago, Chile, I'd pass mine onto Yvon Chouinard!

Meeting Yvon is way better than meeting any Hollywood celeb I can think of. Understated, humble, and radiating goodness, this man is a giant in the world of conservation. We got to chat with Yvon and his wife Malinda a bit at the Adventure Film Festival in Santiago, thanks to our amazing new Development Director and friend Sara Close. The Chouinards kept tabs on our last expedition across the South Atlantic Gyre, as one of our crew members Mary Osborne, is one of Patagonia's Surf Ambassadors, and their family friend.

We're hoping this next voyage wont be nearly as rough as that one....but Mary, being the tough good sport she is, is already planning her next expedition with 5 Gyres!

Also got a chance to meet Makohe, Easter Island's surf goddess and lone female star of 180 Degrees South. If you haven't yet seen this film, see it now! Though be warned, you might just quit what you're doing, load up a van with friends and adventure gear, and take off.




We gave Makohe a 5 Gyres bottle, chatted Rapa Nui (Easter Island) a bit - and talked about meeting up on the Island when we land in April. Our plan is to walk the entire coastline, collecting plastic trash as we circumnavigate, and constructing a modern day "Moai", the mysterious Easter Island  figureheads, entirely out of plastic waste. A symbol of the direction humanity is heading if we don't clean up our acts....