Expeditions to ocean gyres sometimes encounter 'ghost nets' - discarded fishing equipment that can tangle into a hazard for marine organisms.
Swimming in 'synthetic soup' —
Expeditions to ocean gyres sometimes encounter 'ghost nets' - discarded fishing equipment that can tangle into a hazard for marine organisms.
Drew "Scuba Drew" Wheeler
A rainbow runner caught in the Pacific with a gut full of plastic particles. "Our consumption does have a life after our use that we have to take responsibility for," Eriksen says.
Toxic diet —
A rainbow runner caught in the Pacific with a gut full of plastic particles. "Our consumption does have a life after our use that we have to take responsibility for," Eriksen says.
Drew "Scuba Drew" Wheeler
The Algalita Marine Research Foundation and 5 Gyres' 2012 expedition is aboard the Sea Dragon, a 72-feet oceangoing yacht.
Trawling for plastic —
The Algalita Marine Research Foundation and 5 Gyres' 2012 expedition is aboard the Sea Dragon, a 72-feet oceangoing yacht.
Ocean 'garbage patches' are not visible by satellite and aren't floating islands. Rather, they are small bits of broken down plastic, spread across thousands of miles of open ocean.
MIcroscopic particles —
Ocean 'garbage patches' are not visible by satellite and aren't floating islands. Rather, they are small bits of broken down plastic, spread across thousands of miles of open ocean.
Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego
On its second leg from Tokyo to Maui, the AMRF/5 Gyres expedition expects to encounter debris from the Japanese tsunami.
Tsunami debris a new hazard —
On its second leg from Tokyo to Maui, the AMRF/5 Gyres expedition expects to encounter debris from the Japanese tsunami.
Miriam Goldstein, a Scripps Institution of Oceanography researcher has studied plastic debris in the North Pacific Ocean Subtropical Gyre, and is concerned about its potential impact on biodiversity.
On the expedition —
Miriam Goldstein, a Scripps Institution of Oceanography researcher has studied plastic debris in the North Pacific Ocean Subtropical Gyre, and is concerned about its potential impact on biodiversity.
Chang Shu
Research Expedition leader Marcus Eriksen has now travelled to all five gyres and found plastic debris in every one.
A plastic garbage patch veteran —
Research Expedition leader Marcus Eriksen has now travelled to all five gyres and found plastic debris in every one.