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 […]
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Midway 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 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 MoreBird In The Hand And A Brief Respite
Day four out and we’re still soaked. The wind has finally subsided to a manageable 15-20 knots,at times we’re even nearly becalmed. But last night we had 30 knots plus, sometimes close to 40 which made for several sail changes through the night. Reef 3, Reef 1, Stay sail down, […]
Read MoreMeet the Crew–Leg 2 Asia Pacific Expedition
Marcus Eriksen – Research Expedition Leader Marcus Eriksen received his Ph.D. in Science Education from University of Southern California in 2003, months before embarking on a 2000-mile, 5-month journey down the Mississippi River on a homemade raft. His experience on the river led to a career studying the ecological impacts […]
Read More“Mrs. Sakaida’s Hand”
Mrs. Kazuko Sakaida stood on the deck in front of her childhood home as the rumbling roar of a million tons of water, pushed trees, cars and houses over her family’s rice fields. She put up her hands to brace herself, to cover her fear, to hold back the surge. […]
Read MoreScientists observe ‘tragic experiment’ of tsunami debris by Tony Barbosa, Los Angeles Times
Jeff Larson has seen just about everything wash up on the shores of Santa Cruz: bottles, toys, shotgun shells, busted surfboards and fishing floats that looked like they had bobbed across the Pacific. When surging water driven by the magnitude 9.0 earthquake in Japan tore apart his city’s harbor, he […]
Read MoreFrom our captain on the Sea Dragon…
Our position at 20:00 GMT today is 26 47 N, 150 21.4. Our heading is 310 Mag, and winds are less than 10 knots from the South. It has been light fot the past few days so we have been sailing slow or motoring with sails up at times to […]
Read More“There’s an Masked Booby sitting on top of it,” Cynthia says
25.13N, 153.56E May 14th The New Reef “Net ball!” Hank yelled. It turns out to be a 500lb ball of netting, rope and line from over 80 sources, all different, and fragments of commercial products, including 3 toothbushes, 1 cigarette lighter and two plastic straws. The bulk of these, and […]
Read MoreT-7…Here We Go Again
I don’t know if this is how it was for Magellan, Columbus, Lewis and Clark, Shackelton, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin…or even Indiana Jones…but I have seen this movie before. What we remember about really exceptional expeditions is, well…, the “exceptional part”. Great team, discovery and insight beyond all hope, […]
Read MoreNo Island
One of the toughest parts of conservation, business, family life or any human endeavor seems to be facing reality. We all spend alot of time looking around the issues, skimming the surface and fighting on the margins. Staring down the problem in its unvarnished truth is as tough as it […]
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