The Plastiki update
HUCK catches up with the plastic bottle yacht on voyage to highlight marine litter.
Last month, The Plastiki, a yacht made out of 12,000 plastic bottles, set sail across the Pacific from San Francisco to highlight the problem of marine litter.
HUCK caught up with the yacht's skipper Jo Royle to see how the crew of six is getting on and find out just how much crap there really is floating around out there.
HUCK: What has been the most shocking thing you have noticed on the expedition so far?
Jo Royle: As with all of my time at sea, the most staggering thing I notice is the natural beauty of the oceans. There have been so many incredible sunsets. Unfortunately, we do see human influences on the ocean every day. The pieces of plastic floating past the boat when we are 3,000 miles away from land is a constant reminder of our message to reduce, reuse, recycle and rethink waste as a resource so that we can protect our oceans from further harm.
What have been the high points so far?
It was an incredible feeling to see the shores of California and all our friends disappear over the horizon when we set sail. It was funny just to find the six of us on board for the first time. Exhilarating to sail through our first week of big seas, feeling rest assured we had built a boat made from plastic bottles that could sail across the Pacific. Slowly form our on board Plastiki family, learning and accepting each other quirkiness.
Any lows?
The first bucket salt water shower is always a mile stone, although I think I went for it a little too early – chilly!
Can you explain a bit more about how this 'garbage island' you are in search of, can you walk on it?
The so-called garbage islands are areas in every ocean where currents converge to make what are called gyres. These are basically swirling whirlpools where waste gets caught up, creating a soup of plastic pieces and particles. Some reports of the great eastern Pacific garbage patch claim that it is twice the size of Texas is more than a mile deep. Currently, there are five of these gyres that we know about. Whilst you cannot physically walk on it and isn’t an island as such you can see plastic lurking amongst the waves and swirling beneath the surface.
Is it true that it's the tiny bits of plastic that are of most concern, not the big bits?
Large and small pieces of plastic are both a huge risk to the health of our oceans, marine life and to us. Some of the larger pieces are an instant threat to marine life as birds and mammals mistake the pieces of plastic for food. Hundreds of birds every year are found with stomachs full of such things as plastic bottle tops, lighters and Styrofoam. The smaller pieces of plastic can reach the ocean as part of a larger piece or were manufactured as a small particle. For example plastic beads in exfoliating face washes get washed down the plughole and into the ocean. Research shows that these dumb items of plastic never leave our planet. Once in the ocean, plastic photo degrades very slowly over many years. During this ongoing process, it separates into smaller and smaller particles and therefore increasing its initial surface area. As plastic is a petroleum-based product, these small particles act as persistent organic polluters, which means that they form a sponge attracting toxins such as insecticides and pesticides. The filter feeder fish at the bottom of the food chain then ingest these nano particles of plastic. If these fish survive and do not starve from lack of nutrients as a result of filling up on plastic, they will get eaten by bigger predators, which in turn ingest the plastic. The cycle goes on and the levels of toxicity increases until you get to the top of the food chain with pelagic fish such as swordfish that end up on our dinner plate. There was recently Plastiki blog about some guys who found polystyrene in their oysters! which might interest you.
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