Post Tagged with: "the ocean cleanup"

The Ocean Cleanup: Setting sail from Bermuda to Azores

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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Boyan Slat & Ocean Cleanup: Trawling in the North Atlantic Gyre

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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Boyan Slat & The Ocean Cleanup: Second day at sea

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.

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Back in Bermuda

When 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 […]

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sea dragon sailing bermuda

Getting Ready

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.

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bermuda sailing

The Ocean Cleanup Expedition Wrap-Up!

https://vimeo.com/80145347 The Ocean Cleanup with Pangaea Explorations from Pangaea Explorations on Vimeo. Sea Dragon is safely berthed in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, after a tumultuous but ultimately successful voyage from Bermuda.  I’ve sailed with a lot of different crews over the years, and dealt with a lot of different gear […]

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boyan slat the ocean cleanup

Boyan Slat guest blog | Gyre Expedition

I’m currently preparing for another night shift, and reflecting on my experiences of the past few days.  After successfully testing the multi-level trawl in a Bermudian harbour a week ago, we then spent three days enduring 10ft swells, 30kt winds and the aftertaste of seasickness medication.  The sound of flopping […]

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