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

We just passed 45°N, halfway between the equator and the North Pole. We joked, “Shall we go back to where it’s warm? We did our last trawl yesterday of the sea surface, using the manta trawl, which is 60cm wide by 15cm tall. We towed it roughly two miles and came up with only a fragment or two of plastic, and a tangled piece of fishing line. There’s a lot less here than what we were finding two weeks ago. We’re also recording water temperature, which reads 59°F. That’s not tropical to me. We’re out of the gyre.

We’re now in the area where the eastward current that defines the northern boundary of the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre splits to form the California Current to the south and the Alaskan Current to the north. The plastic in the accumulation zone of the Eastern Garbage Patch is being driven east and south along the west coast of North America, until the North Equatorial Current pushes it west again, unless it meanders slowly into the center.

 “So, what shall we have for dinner?” It’s unanimous, “SOUP!” Of the 13 people on board, we divided into three watches. There’s always at least two people outside at all times, even at 3 o’clock in the morning when the wind is blowing 20 knots and an icy drizzle creeps down you neck. That’s when a mug of soup goes down happily and warms your soul from the inside.

We’re now at 45°39N, 131°13W, with less than 400 miles before the Strait of Juan de Fuca. We’ll stop in Victoria, Canada first to get our passports stamped, which may take a while with 7 different nationalities on board. Then we’ll spend a day traveling slowly through the strait to Vancouver, hopefully lucky enough to see an orca or two.