Aboard a 140-foot sailing cargo ship, a cleanup crew led by Sausalito environmentalists this month hoisted nearly 40 tons of plastic from the Pacific Ocean.
The 25-day mission to the so-called “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” was the largest cleanup mission that the Ocean Voyages Institute has taken on, according to founder and executive director Mary Crowley.
“We took a big step forward,” she said. “But it’s just the beginning. There’s still a lot to clean up.”
According to a recent study, scientists estimate the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which floats between Hawaii and California, weighs 87,000 tons and is twice the size of Texas. The patch is formed by the convergence of several ocean currents, which creates a vortex that traps floating debris, including plastics.
Those plastics are having adverse effects on the ocean’s health, according to Dr. Karina Nielsen, director of the Estuary and Ocean Science Center in Tiburon. Much of the plastic is breaking down over time into small particles, she said.
“We’re starting to see plastics throughout the food chain,” she said. “We don’t really know what the consequences of that might be.”
Crowley, who has been sailing the Pacific Ocean for nearly 40 years, has shifted the focus of her Sausalito yacht chartering company in recent years. Ocean Voyages has now led three expeditions to the garbage patch. Each has been more successful than the last, Crowley said.
“In my lifetime, I’ve seen a tremendous change in the ocean,” she said. “I kept hearing that there’s no solution to this, and I suppose that’s what got me started. We have the ability to clean this up. All we need is the will.”
During Ocean Voyages’ most recent mission, the cleanup crew used satellite trackers to target “ghost nets,” which are massive fishing nets that can sometimes weigh several tons and can entangle ocean wildlife. Those made up roughly 90% of the haul. The rest included mixed plastics, such as bottles and children’s toys, according to Crowley.
The majority of the plastic collected during the expedition was offloaded at a recycling yard in Hawaii, Crowley said. A portion was given to artists who create work with plastics and waste.
The Marin County Board of Supervisors this month celebrated Crowley and her work in a resolution honoring “World Oceans Day,” which it marked on June 8.
“Resolute and persistent,” the resolution states, “Mary Crowley remains committed to solutions, clean-up efforts, global education and prevention.”
Ocean Voyages is planning two more cleanup expeditions this year and has ambitions for a much larger project in 2020. Crowley hopes the latest effort will inspire other environmentalists to take on similar cleanups.
“Mary is doing a terrific job of outreach and bringing awareness to lots of people about the problem,” Nielsen said.
In order to go further in combating the issue of ocean pollution, Nielsen said it’s also important to curb the production and use of plastic products.
“There’s more coming in every day,” she said. “It’s not going to be feasible to scoop it all out unless we stop where it’s coming from.”
