In January 2010, the 5 Gyres team crossed the North Atlantic
Gyre - also called the Sargasso Sea, aboard our partner Pangaea
Exploration's 72-foot, steel hulled Sea Dragon. We sailed
through mats of Sargassum filled with plastic trash, and found
plastic particles in every one of our surface samples. On the
Islands – Bermuda and the Azores – we found beaches awash in
plastic trash. With few resources to deal with waste recovery
and disposal, islands are in great need of innovative solutions.
Shortly after, we were invited to cross the Indian Ocean Gyre,
from Perth Australia to Mauritius, off the coast of Madagascar.
Again, not a single one of our samples were free of plastic –
shredded plastic packaging, bottle caps, ice cream containers,
and plastic pellets served to remind us of where this problem
begins – in our own backyards. We’re now planning 8 expeditions
to the South Atlantic and Pacific Gyres, completing our global
survey. We invite scientists, journalists, filmmakers, and
interested citizens on board