Flotilla of Trash!

Well seems to many people have been having yard sales! lol  but really, If you havent seen this you might want to take a look. http://sio.ucsd.edu/Expeditions/Seaplex/
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090828/ap_on_sc/us_sci_ocean_junk

Just stumbled across this today and I figured I would share. I already emailed the study group to see if there was a cleanup effort and god only knows when they will get back to me.
John

my kids floating radio should be there by now

Man, what is this world coming to?  We're all going to hell in a handbasket.  I knew it existed, but this is something else.  

Michael

I wonder how the dodo fishing is around the trash heap? 

"Dear John,

Thank you for your message and your interest in Scripps Institution of
Oceanography at UC San Diego.

I was on the voyage and the student researchers picked up as much debris as
they could. Your GPS idea is an interesting one, however the problem with
the gyre is that it is so far away from land that getting there to pick it
up is a challenge in an of itself.

Again, thank you for your message."


Already have a response to my letter and it turns out the students that charted the better part of the flotilla are more than approachable. It's good to hear that they did pick up what they could.

I wonder how the dodo fishing is around the trash heap? 

well time for Operation Gyre cleanup 2010 to commence. Seeing as though we should already be paddling out there to get there in time there will be no formal planning....just start paddling.. 

I wonder how the dodo fishing is around the trash heap? 

I heard this a few weeks back on NPR and the first thing that came to mind was, "damn, there must be a heap o' dodos around that place...."

  Ok, I'll try some humor even tho it's such a sad subject: any chance a few plastic yaks could be harvested from there? I've yet to afford one for my wife. Nope not really funny. I tried.

Seriously tho, they're saying that they are afraid to touch the plastic gyre. Apparently the plastic is breaking down - not in a good way. Tons of tiny particles are breaking away as the sun splits up the plastic. They say these tiny, even microscopic, plastic particles are subject to reacting with other pollutants that remain in our oceans from past mistakes, namely DDT & its relatives & PCB's of course. In turn this is creating particulate matter that fish try to ingest bringing the toxins into there body. Where if the bond to the plastic particles hadn't occurred those past-pollutants weren't necessarily entering the fishs' bodies.

In case you're not already crying, they're saying the Orcas are getting neurological disorders (a.k.a. going crazy) and developing breast cancer as a result of these mega-toxic-particulates.

Point being, they think if people try cleaning this sight up it will stir up and release a bunch of these particles into the ocean simply by touching the decaying plastic heap. Some of the heap is stuck to itself by ocean organisms growing on the plastic. If they disturb it it's expected that it will shed itself.

It's all so freak'n wrong.

Here's the solution 

http://ecoble.com/2007/11/18/250000-bottles-amazing-recycled-mexican-island-paradise/

I want my own island!

Sounds like all you need is to head out to the Flotilla with some nets, plywood, and bamboo!  You can build as you go