At the end of June the Ocean Voyages Institute’s plastic recovery ship, docked in Honolulu. In just 48 days they recovered 103 tons (206,000 lbs.) of plastic from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Which set a new a record for the largest at sea clean-up to date. You can find the Patch between Hawaii and California with a trash pile twice the size of Texas!
Most of the trash included fishing nets and everyday plastics.
Catching plastic from one of the most polluted areas in the ocean is no easy task. The crew spent long days skimming areas of highest plastic concentration, grappling nets, and dragging loads of plastic aboard their recovery ship. They use GPS trackers and drones to help them locate high debris areas. While also researching more effective collection techniques.
Next year, the Institute has even higher goals. They plan to upscale their plastic retrieval and send out three boats to the same area. Go team!
Full article here.
