Sea Dragon and her science team from WHOI are working back and forth on the equator taking water samples. Latitude 0 0.1’N / Longitude 157 45.8’W- about 580 feet north of the equator, just south of Christmas Island.
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The 2012 Asia Pacific Expedition: A STORY OF SUCCESS.
The 2012 Asia Pacific Expedition A SUCCESS STORY Yes, the voyage of many successes in spite of the odds against it. The 2012 Algalita/5 Gyres Asia Pacific Expedition, although hampered by severe weather and all manner of obstacles on Leg 2, met most of its goals and objectives. Conducting our research […]
Read MoreAdventurers sail through wave of tsunami debris–from the Guardian.
Adventurers sail through wave of tsunami debris Team track tsunami debris from Japan’s disaster to gain insight into how plastic pollution travels across the world’s oceans The floating dock from Japan that has washed up on a beach in Oregon, US. Photograph: Reuters/Oregon parks department The Pacific Ocean is a […]
Read MoreWelcome Crew and Sea Dragon!
Can you say “Papahanaumokuakea”?
We’re skirting along the northern edge of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, the largest marine protected area on the planet, established only 6 years ago. The ocean is the last frontier of conservation, with less than 1% currently set aside as a safe haven for marine life. For comparison,12% of land has […]
Read MoreLast Trawl 24.45N, 165.01W
We’re still far north of the boundaries of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, so a few days ago we pulled in the high-speed trawl and ended our sampling of the sea for plastic. Our research is done. Without having the exact counts and weights for this sample, I can at least say […]
Read MoreMidway Atoll, Midnight Philosophy, and A Plastic Buffet For Albatrosses.
We’re just west of Midway Atoll and we’ve found the sun, thankfully. Sea Dragon is dried out, but we’re under provisioned and almost entirely out of vegetables (even canned) and the watermaker is acting up (again) and so the crew isn’t allowed fresh water showers. We have 1500 liters of […]
Read MoreFeeling Low 1005, a Gale, and The Synthetic Specter on Deck
Well, at least we’re consistent on this voyage. We’re like a magnet for crap weather out here and once again have found ourselves stuck in a low pressure system that’s spewing big winds, drenching us in torrential downpours and making my eyes glue to the barometer for any signs of […]
Read MoreGhost Ship: A Lost Skiff Off 1500 miles off The Coast Of Japan
Position: 29°11.9 North 170°35.2 East “It’s a whale” yells Tracey from above deck. I’m eating humus below in the salon with Dani, after forgoing Kelvin’s lunch of fried Kim Chi with rice and seaweed. Wildlife sightings are like breaking news aboard Sea Dragon, sometimes the only demarcation from one day […]
Read MoreTrawling for pseudo-fish eggs
When Macro becomes micro the impact of plastic pollution shifts from being an eyesore for humans to an intestinal sore for fish. The greatest migration on the planet is not the seasonal movements of wildebeest across Africa or Canada geese over North America, but the nightly mad rush of millions […]
Read MoreTyphoon Guchol, Plastic Every 1.5 Minutes and Anemone of The People.
Typically, typhoon season in the North Atlantic starts in the summer—yes. Summer doesn’t officially start until the 21st, but like all things weather this year, things are whacky—normally you don’t get full blown typhoons until mid July into September, but this year is starting with a bang. We’ve weathered the […]
Read MoreShooting the SOUP and a Microcosm Movement In The Middle of Nowhere.
If you haven’t googled “Mandy Barker, SOUP” do so. Crewmember and photographic artist Mandy Barker from Leeds, UK has a series called SOUP–which pretty much went viral when her images hit the internet. Her work is based on the North Pacific Gyre, and she photographs plastic ‘rubbish’ collected from beaches […]
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