Day 5, and we’ve all settled into the rhythm of a life at sea – cooking, cleaning, sharing meals, waking up at all hours, sleeping, trawling, and starting all over again. The worst of seasickness has passed, as formerly ashen-faced crewmembers are now able to laugh, read, and cook – 3 tell tale signs that life is back to relative “normal”. Tonight’s dinner on deck: crab and vegetable lasagna – with fresh crab from Robinson Crusoe Island and our last green salad, accompanied by a Technicolor sunset. Life is good.

We’ve collected 4 samples so far –all remarkably free from plastic pollution, save for a few small fragments here and there. A good sign, however it’s far too early to celebrate, as we’re still a few days away from the predicted accumulation zone. The South Pacific gyre is also distinct from the other gyres we’ve surveyed – debris in the center of the gyre will remain trapped here, whereas in other ocean basis, debris is able to leave. And is even “spit out”, drifting beyond the gyres’ centers to wash up on shorelines as the current systems wobble and shift.

This model here shows the paths of drifters following the ocean currents of the South Pacific:

(a) Trajectories of 57 drifters before entering the white circle in the centre of the gyre. (b) Dark grey are parts of trajectories after leaving from the circle and grey are parts of trajectories leaving from the circle and returning back into the circle again (courtesy to Maximenko (2006)).

So the fact that our trawls outside the gyre’s center are relatively clean could mean that this ocean is in fact “plastic lite”, which would be fantastic, or a sign that we just haven’t entered the predicted accumulation zone. A few days time should tell.

Aside from the science work, we’re keeping ourselves entertained. Last night, we watched an incredible film “Big in Bollywood” made by Bill Bowles, one of our filmmakers and a highly entertaining storyteller. Tonight we played a chaotic, hilarious Argentine card game called “Chancho” taught to us by Paula, our resident journalist and blogger for Treehugger – much screaming and laughter involved. Ben Lear is seldom far from his guitar, and has been playing bits and pieces of his rock opera “Lillian”, which he will soon arrange for bagpipe, violin, harmonica, and a chorus of pots and pans. This is what we love about inviting a broad cross section of people to join our expeditions. Never a dull moment.

The Hi-Speed Trawl, our original design for optimizing time at sea by collecting surface samples at 8 knots, has just come out of the water.  We towed it for 55 nautical miles outside the accumulation zone of the South Pacific Subtropical Gyre.  The result, two large visable fragments among a handful of small fish, jellyfish and other plankton.  In the two weeks ahead we’ll travel through the center of the gyre, where we honestly do not know what to expect.  We’ll be alternating between the Hi-Speed Trawl and Manta Trawl as we sail 1500 miles to Easter Island, and onward to Tahiti.

Compared to the other 4 large subtropical gyres, the South Pacific has the tightest vortex of swirling currents.  That doesn’t mean our ship will get sucked under, rather plastic pollution and natural marine debris will be more likely to stall in the center of this gyre than others.  This doesn’t mean there will be more plastic pollution here either.  That depends primarily on coastal outputs.  For example, the North Pacific Gyre is choked full of derelict fishing gear from East Asia, whereas the North Atlantic Gyre contains relatively more consumer products, like bottle caps, buckets, crates, pen caps, and a surprising number of shotgun shells.  Simply put, what’s on your street, flowing downstream from your neighborhood,defines what’s in the sea.

We anticipate conducting 60-70 trawls in the coming weeks, giving us a snapshot of the abundance and character of the plastic pollution in this gyre, and hopefully there’s far less than we’ve seen in the other four.

502 miles and 4 days from Valdivia, Chile, we arrive on Robinson Crusoe Island, a volcanic pinnacle rising over 500 meters above the sea, and only 7 miles long from its furthest points.  6:00am the Sea Dragon idles into the protected harbor, “It’s looks larger than I imagined,” Clive says, as we all peer at the illuminated village in the deepest pocket of the bay.  We imagine there might be a trail to the top of the crest, a jagged skyline, illuminated by the first glow of the rising sun. “Let’s go there,” I say. We all agree. It’s our last chance for land till Easter Island.

The first thing recognizable is the open space and evacuated concrete slabs that define the first 20 meters elevation into town.  In February 2010 an earthquate rocked the island, followed by a tsunami that obliterated the nearsore neighborhood, killing 18 of the less than 500 residents that live here. Leaping onto the dock, we enjoy terra firma and the sweet smell of morning mist lifting from the forest above and rushing offshore over our heads.  The Bag Monster sets out first.

Andy Keller, founder of Chico Bag, and inventer of the Bag Monster, sports attire consisting of 500 single-use throwaway plastic bags.  He’s more akin to a walking landfill, now strutting his way through a gauntlet of chuckling Chilean fishermen and dock workers. I’ve known about the Bag Monster for years, having watched Andy and many comrades use this spectacle to bring attention to the wasteful consumption and loss of plastic to the environment.  I now see the power of the intended humor.  He’s the pied piper of plastic, entertaining and explaining this life’s mission to save the planet from plastic bags, one island at a time.

We hike up the hill into the eucalyptus forest, with a trail of dogs in our wake.  Like Santiago and Valdivia, the Chilean perception of street dogs is that they belong to the neighborhood, everyone collectively owns and takes care of them.  They are everywhere.  Andy stands too long and one pees on his Bag Monster outfit.  At the base of the trail only two dogs follow.  We take the switchback trail to the edge of mid-island ridge.  We get to the top and peer over the sheer cliff and howling wind on the other side.  Charlie breaks out his bagpipes.

Charlie Bradford, our Scotish sailor, has brought his bagpipes to sea.  Now, atop the highest point on the planet for 500 miles in any direction, he whines, wails and whistles to the wind.  He wants to be, and likely is, the only person to play bagpipes here.  It’s our first time hearing him play.  We are all in awe.  The Sea Dragon looks small in the bay below him.  In a few hours we will all be at sea again, but for now we are lured by this amusing and surreal moment, lured to this tiny island for the simple reason that it is here, and lured to the sea because of the true monster we seek.

This is the 5th of the 5 subtropical gyres yet to be explored.  In less than a week we will have the first scientific samples of the sea surface extracted from this region with the intention to look for plastic pollution.  Soon, we are aboard the Sea Dragon preparing dinner in the calm of the bay, anticipating the westerly journey into theSouth Pacific Gyre.

Noontime position: 37 54.7 South, 74 04.3 West

We’re underway! 11 of us stand on deck, soaking in the stunning view as we navigate our way through the gorgeous channels that wend lazily from Valdivia to the sea. Picturesque little villages break up the thick, green forests bordering us on all sides. A perfect day for setting sail — and for a helicopter flyover!

For the last 2 days, Friedemann has been hustling to track down a helicopter, to shoot some aerial footage of the Sea Dragon making its way to open water. We all encourage him, somewhat skeptical but hoping that it will work out. This would be ubercool…

“Listen, it’s coming! Everyone take your places on deck!”

We quickly raise the sails as the tell tale chopper sounds ricochetthrough the air. A tiny, black dot swoops its way towards us, hovering low over the water, circling our boat, and then disappearing into the bright sun. We try to look busy for the cameras,pulling on random ropes while Friedemann and Bill – our two filmmakers – shoot blissfully from above.

By far, this has been our most dramatic departure yet, and the results are spectacular! Jeff fetches the filmmakers in the dingy, elated with excitement. Viewed from 300 meters up, the Sea Dragon was merely an elegant white speck against a sparkling backdrop. This will be our home for the next few weeks.

12 hours into the voyage, things take a temporary turn for the worse. Sea sickness sends a third of the crew either to their bunks, or heaved over the side of the boat, ashen faced and miserable. And a critical piece on the watermaker blows. Our Skipper Clive wakes us with the news, holding the part between two fingers – a small fitting the size of a thumbnail. We’d have to head back to Chile for repairs. Without water, we wont make it to Easter Island, much less Tahiti, the next leg of the voyage.

Incredulous, we look at the tiny culprit, heads spinning with the implications. Going back now means another delay of at least 24 hours, and we’re already behind schedule. Marcus heads out to investigate with Dale. If these two MacGyvers can’t fix it, we will doubtless have to turn back.

Success!! Marcus finds a roughly matching part, and an hour of tinkering later, Dale finesses the piece into place. A narrow miss, thanks to our resourceful handymen.

We’re now roughly 30 hours from Robinson Crusoe, a small, remote island where we’ll do a bit of exploring before getting back on our route to Rapa Nui. And soon, we’ll begin our research – which is what brings us to this far away part of the world, studying plastic marine pollution in an area that has yet to be explored. We truly have no idea what we will find.

We stopped last night in a TINY village called Puerto Eden. We had to stay there for the night and wait out the aftershocks of the earthquake in Japan. Everyone was worried about Tsunamis around the world. We are pretty far from Japan but it is better to be safe than sorry.

We left this AM about 8 and motored until about 4pm. We are now stopped for a little while at the amazing GlacierTempanos in a fiord called Seno Iceberg. BREATHTAKING! To top it all off, we had several dolphins to guide us into the fiord. They rode along the side of the boat the entire time. Beauty everywhere you turn. Surely something I will never forget. . .

I am including 2 photos today, one of the dolphins with the glacier in the background, the other is our group photo in front of the Glacier Tempanos.

I made yet more cookies today. It does not matter how many I make, they just disappear! Teresa

Currently we are holed up in a little cove waiting out yet more weather. We are going to get going about 9 or so this evening again. We are on the midnight to 4am shift this time. Oh, that will be fun!

We had quite a night last night. I was on from 8pm-midnight and we started out just fine and then got rocky towards the end of our shift. The next crew came on and had it pretty bad. They tried to anchor at one spot and could not get the anchor to stick so pulled it up and we went on to the cove we are currently in, but it was pretty rough getting here. This is a beautiful little spot called Caleta Lamento de Indio. Simply beautiful. We went on dingy rides to get a closer look. We have seen ducks and otters that live here. If I were them, I would live here too!

Anna Rotander, the scientist from Sweden did some water samples while we were parked here. It will be interesting to see the results of her tests. Even though we have not seen actual plastic in this region, she and her team of researchers are concerned about the chemicals in the water that leaches out of plastic while it photodegrades. The suspicion is that these waters are still contaminated by those chemicals even if the plastic is not readily evident.

The photos are of the cove we are in and of Anna taking water samples.

I hope you are enjoying a lovely weekend! Teresa

Just in from Sea Dragon… “We were given the all clear at 0800 local time to proceed and are headed north initially visiting Seno Iceberg before planning to cross the Golfo de Penas.”
I’m sure there are many relieved friends and family knowing the crew are safe. All our thoughts are with those in Japan during this devastating and challenging time.