by Rayenne Hale – Guest Crew Sea Dragon Who would have thought the most bruises would be amassed in the washroom or the heads as they are called aboard… Conveniently it is also a great place to gain arm strength as one has to pump a handle quite fervently to […]
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by Gavin Reid – Deckhand Sea Dragon We arrived in Bermuda this morning at 0900 local time. We were welcomed by a lovely squall passing over the island making the climate considerably cooler than what we had experienced the past week. A busy morning saw the crew working hard to […]
Read Moreby Gavin Reid – Deckhand Sea Dragon We are now into Day 4 of our voyage to Bermuda and it has happened swiftly. The watch systems have been established with three watches doing 4 hour on shifts and then 8 hours off with two 2 hour ‘dog’ watches from 4pm […]
Read Morequote by Jacques Cousteau By Cath Hough – Deckhand We’ve had calm nights, where the deep purr of the engine has rocked us to sleep; we’ve had rocky nights where you’re clenching your muscles every time we surf down a wave to stop yourself from falling out of bed! We’ve […]
Read MoreOn first impression, it seems possible to confirm the theory of a higher accumulation of plastic in the area called the center of the gyre. But only when all the samples have been processed in the Ocean Lab, and the results analyzed and discussed, will we be able to definitely confirm this theory. By the time this blog is posted, our team on the Sea Dragon will have already set sail in the direction of the Azores, where the boat and all the team will again reach safe land after having crossed the Atlantic Ocean collecting samples.
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We were soon back to routine sailing until about 1720 hours when Captain Eric spotted something large and white floating about 100M off the port bow. In addition to the trawl’s catch, we had been seeing mezzo-plastics (several cm-long), some larger, floating by all day but this object was big, coiled on itself like a great white serpent. Eric called out and immediately turned the boat toward the “thing” – we did not know what it was.
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Today, with a now experienced crew and a comfortable 15 knot-wind, three back-to-back trawls were performed, each around an hour in length. Lots of millimetre to centimetre-sized particles were visible in the samples of the top few nets. Team member Francesco is currently working with some volunteers to clean the nets’ cod ends and prepare the samples for transportation.
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It’s our third day on board the Sea Dragon, our second day at sea. Most of us have never been on any type of sailboat, so the first and second day consisted of a lot of very basic training: how to pump the head, coil a rope, where all the supplies are kept. While still in the quiet harbor in Bermuda, we practiced putting the multi-level trawl in the water, each of us assigned a specific task, working as a team to ensure it was deployed safely.
Read MoreWhen the Gibb’s Hill lighthouse blinked over the horizon last weekend a weight lifted off of all of our shoulders – we had made it! Sea Dragon is back in Bermuda for the 4th time in the last three years, and its beginning to feel a bit like we have […]
Read MoreThe first one landed on board just after three in the morning. Its gossamer wings beating frantically against the rubber stucco deck, its eyes spinning crazily in their sockets. Gasping wetly at nothing. Its scales dripping with sea slime in our headlamps, shining dully in the baleful red shadows in the leaden night.
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Here on board Sea Dragon, the last few days have been a whirlwind of activity. We returned from a very successful trip with The Ocean Cleanup on Saturday, and on Monday we head back out to sea with BAMZ, the punchily-acronymed Bermuda Aquarium, Museum, and Zoo. In the intervening time, we are getting the boat ready for our voyage to Iceland with The 5 Gyres Institute.
Read MoreToday we officially casted off for what will be the last time until we return to Bermuda. We were a little slow casting off due to the customs officers having difficulties with locks and keys. Once those issues were sorted, we were quickly on our way! Within the first 2 […]
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