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 […]
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We’re excited to see this piece on the vertical distribution of buoyant ocean plastics in The Conversation – ‘Missing plastic’ in the oceans can be found below the surface – which contains data collected on board Pangaea’s S.V. Sea Dragon by our partners at The Ocean Cleanup.
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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.
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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 on […]
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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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Our morning began with a surprise squall, which some of the lucky crew completely slept through. Just the Caribbean’s way of welcoming us to her warmer latitudes. The sun was out during part of another bout of rain and we found the end of the rainbow reaching to the aft […]
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There are lots of first times on this ship for me, like first time out on the ocean ever, first time driving a 22 meter yacht toward a tropical squall and the first time I have ever seen a flying fish! And as a real city boy, I thought they only […]
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As day two draws to a close, the team’s spirits are on the rise. The sea sickness of day one has subsided and appetites have returned. The weather and swells are starting to calm down and we hope to deploy both Team Science! and the trawl tomorrow. We were able to […]
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After a very productive day in St. George’s on Wednesday, The Ocean Cleanup‘s multi-level trawl was assembled and improved based on their brief tests in Rotterdam Harbor and the crew was well practiced in deploying and recovering it in the calm waters of St. George’s Harbor. This morning we left the […]
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