103 tons of waste were removed from the plastic island in the Pacific. It is the largest cleaning operation ever carried out
He took fishing nets and plastic waste of all shapes and sizes from the sea. A mega cleanup operation, conducted on the so-called plastic island, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, the largest ever conducted, cleared 103 tons of litter from the North Pacific from the sea.
Over 100 tons of waste no longer populate marine waters. They have now found their place at a number of collection and recycling centers.
The feat was accomplished by the Ocean Voyages Institute which with the ship Kwai led an expedition lasting 48 days and ended in June, with the docking of the boat at the port of Honolulu, in Hawaii.
©Ocean Voyages Institute
The Ocean Voyages Institute has set a new record, therefore, by performing the largest clean-up operation at sea, more than doubling its results compared to last year.
“I am so proud of our hard working team,” said Mary Crowley, founder and executive director of the Ocean Voyages Institute. “We have exceeded our goal of removing 100 tons of toxic consumer plastics and abandoned ghost nets, and in these difficult times we are continuing to help restore the health of our ocean, which affects ours and the planet. The oceans cannot wait for these nets and debris to break into microplastics that compromise the ocean's ability to store carbon and toxic the fragile oceanic food web ”.
©Ocean Voyages Institute
Known as the "Ghost Net Buster," MaryCrowley is renowned for developing effective methods for removing significant amounts of plastics from the ocean. In 2019 she had already carried out two campaigns, one on the plastic island, the other in the waters surrounding the Hawaiian Islands, managing to remove 48 tons of waste.
Thanks to the use of GPS systems that track debris in the sea via satellite, the Ocean Voyages Institute is helping to reduce marine pollution in one of the most critical areas, the so-called Pacific Gyre, the plastic island located in the middle road between Hawaii and California. It is the largest plastic island in the world, whose dimensions are unfortunately not even easy to estimate: they could range from 700.000 km² to more than 10 million.
In addition to GPS, the institute used drones to pinpoint the correct location of the debris. They are then recovered and placed in the hold of the ship, waiting to be delivered to the collection and recycling centers on the mainland.
“There is no one-stop solution for cleaning the oceans - it's the long days at sea, with a dedicated crew scanning the horizon, grabbing nets and recovering huge amounts of waste, which makes it possible,” says Locky MacLean, director by Sea Shepherd.
Triple efforts in 2021
The team explains that the solutions adopted by the OVI are scalable so they could also be used elsewhere. The team also aims to triple both research vessels in the North Pacific and collection times in 2021:
“We are aiming to expand to other parts of the world that desperately need efficient cleaning technologies,” said Crowley. "I have no doubt that our work is making the oceans healthier and safer for marine life, as these nets will no longer trap or harm a whale, dolphin, turtle or coral reef."
©Ocean Voyages Institute
The Ocean Voyages Institute (OVI) was founded in 1979 by Mary T. Crowley. In 2009, she initiated various Pacific Ocean reclamation initiatives aboard the brig and has continued to work ever since to find solutions to the ocean litter problem. The Ocean Voyages Institute has received numerous awards, including the United Nations "Climate Hero Award" (UNEP) and the "Earth Hero Award" from Google Inc.
Sources of reference: Ocean Voyage Institute
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