Matter out of Place in the South Pacific Pitcairns
By Anna Cummins on April 24, 2011
|
|
Tweet |
|
|
|
(Blog post below from Leslie Moyer, currently at sea in the South Pacific Gyre)
Noontime position: Lat/long: 24 19.475, 128 16.71
A pit stop on the way from Easter Island to Tahiti as we complete the second leg of the first-ever transect of the South Pacific gyre, Hendersen Island in the Pitcairns was a bolt from the blue this morning after daybreak. Sea Dragon picked her way over the fringing reef system and dropped anchor in sand on the north side of the tiny island. Over the course of the day, the crew made the swim to the island to check out the most remote place on this big blue watery planet most of us had ever visited.
We walked along the the north side of the island which lays claim to a long stretch of coastline with sands made white and powdery by the ages-worn coral and parrot fish poop, as our on-board marine biologist Garen Baghdasarian edified us on later that evening. The tiny island, uninhabited, secluded, and fairly inaccessible, is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site – we came across a grove of coconut palms under which a plaque instructed visitors to “not damage plants or wildlife” and “please leave no litter.” The irony lay in that along with blue lobster shells, sea urchin spines and sea turtle tracks, the long stretch of beach we walked all day was littered with plastic flotsam. Amongst our plunder were disposable lighters, plastic combs, water and detergent bottles and bottle caps, eroded toys like truck wheels, animal figurines and GI Joes, barnacle-encrusted flip-flops, all manner of derelict fishing gear and hundreds of the pre-production plastic pellets called nurdles that we collected to send in for POP analysis at International Pellet Watch. Before we swam back to the boat, we found a sun-bleached hard hat and a flat volley ball. At the end of the day, we pulled up anchor and bagan our sail towards Pitcairn Island and Tahiti; the island looked pristine and magical behind us, but the distance betrayed the sad truth – even in the far reaches of the South Pacific on an island uninhabited for 400 years, we cannot escape our human stain.
Photo caption (photo at top)
One of our crew members who has been making a slow transformation into Chuck Noland in Cast Away finally completed the picture when he found this volley ball washed ashore on Henderson Island.
Noontime position: Lat/long: 24 19.475, 128 16.71
A pit stop on the way from Easter Island to Tahiti as we complete the second leg of the first-ever transect of the South Pacific gyre, Hendersen Island in the Pitcairns was a bolt from the blue this morning after daybreak. Sea Dragon picked her way over the fringing reef system and dropped anchor in sand on the north side of the tiny island. Over the course of the day, the crew made the swim to the island to check out the most remote place on this big blue watery planet most of us had ever visited.
We walked along the the north side of the island which lays claim to a long stretch of coastline with sands made white and powdery by the ages-worn coral and parrot fish poop, as our on-board marine biologist Garen Baghdasarian edified us on later that evening. The tiny island, uninhabited, secluded, and fairly inaccessible, is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site – we came across a grove of coconut palms under which a plaque instructed visitors to “not damage plants or wildlife” and “please leave no litter.” The irony lay in that along with blue lobster shells, sea urchin spines and sea turtle tracks, the long stretch of beach we walked all day was littered with plastic flotsam. Amongst our plunder were disposable lighters, plastic combs, water and detergent bottles and bottle caps, eroded toys like truck wheels, animal figurines and GI Joes, barnacle-encrusted flip-flops, all manner of derelict fishing gear and hundreds of the pre-production plastic pellets called nurdles that we collected to send in for POP analysis at International Pellet Watch. Before we swam back to the boat, we found a sun-bleached hard hat and a flat volley ball. At the end of the day, we pulled up anchor and bagan our sail towards Pitcairn Island and Tahiti; the island looked pristine and magical behind us, but the distance betrayed the sad truth – even in the far reaches of the South Pacific on an island uninhabited for 400 years, we cannot escape our human stain.
Photo caption (photo at top)
One of our crew members who has been making a slow transformation into Chuck Noland in Cast Away finally completed the picture when he found this volley ball washed ashore on Henderson Island.
The Plastic Promise
By taking this pledge, you can make a difference.
Take and Share the Plastic Promise
