JUNK

JUNK makes front page in India!

2008-08-28T23:22:00.000-07:00

News of JUNK's safe arrival in Honolulu travelled far and wide yesterday, including
a front page article on Hindu.com. Such are the wonders of the AP wire. How does if feel to set foot on land after 3 months on a plastic bottle raft, crossing the Pacific?

"We were surrounded by boats, blaring horns, waves and whistles, as JUNK was towed into Ala Wai Harbor in Honolulu. The first thing I did was reach for my fiancee, Anna. Captain Charles Moore, founder of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation was there with a smile and a loud “Aloha”. Dr. Andrew Rossiter, director of the Waikiki Aquarium, presented us each with a handshake and a lei. There were perhaps 100 people there to greet us, including plenty of media representatives to cover our story, everyone asking, “Why did you do this,” or “Was it worth it?” If you've been following our blog, you know why. Yes, it was worth it. We would do it again.

I presented our last gyre sample from our marine debris trawl. In a glass peanut butter jar were hundreds of fragments of plastic and zooplankton floating around. “This is what you get when you skim the ocean surface. 2/3rds of the earth is ocean, and is now a plastic soup.” I also showed the shriveled stomach from the rainbow runner I caught a couple weeks ago, with 14 fragments of plastic in it's stomach. This is why we crossed this ocean. Then we talked about what we do about it.

Anna and I were soon strolling along busy streets to find a market and restaurant for fresh greens. Anything green, or a red tomato would do. As we walked I paid attention to my experience. I expected wobbly legs and quick exhaustion. What I experienced was unexpected. We found a restaurant and shared a spinach and tomato salad. We walked slowly. I was just taking it all in. The novelty of the open ocean is different from rush hour Waikiki, the noise, sights, smells, and concrete beneath my feet. The best analogy would be a monk walking through a burning building. I was used to the subtle novelty of an empty horizon and bottomless sea that shows you a unique world, especially when you travel at 1.5 miles per hour for 2600 miles. So much of our planet is ocean, so little of it belongs to us, and perhaps none of it does.

Today, one day later, I carry my cell phone. I wear shoes. I check email. Anna and I walked to Ala Wai Harbor to meet Joel. By the end of the day JUNK is gone. We've undone 3 months of work in 24 hours. We will rebuild the raft on the front lawn of the Waikiki Aquarium. Then we'll stuff JUNK in a shipping container and send it back to where it was built. It's been six months from the day I sketched the image of JUNK on a piece of paper, to the raft built, sailed, and dismantled in Hawaii. My dream for 4 years has come to a new beginning.

Arrival words from JUNK

2008-08-27T18:24:00.000-07:00

JUNK has arrived safely, to a throng of cheering supporters, journalists, and videographers. After a few hours of interviews, the crew headed out for a much deserved lunch of FRESH FOOD and drink.

Photos coming of the arrival as soon as we've all settled into the land reality. Meantime, some final thoughts from Marcus and Joel:

At 1:00 am I took the helm, as Joel climbed into the cabin to sleep after having been on watch for 8 hours. A squall quickly overcame JUNK and left me and the deck drenched. The moon shot out from behind the clouds, illuminating the backside of the storm. By the light of the moon, a complete rainbow appeared. I’ve never seen one at night. I’ve 8 hours to keep the raft on a steady course for Honolulu, which is now only 40 miles away. There is so much to think about, so much to do, but still plenty of time to let my mind wander and ponder on this voyage. It’s been a long summer.

2,600 miles of open ocean crossed in 87 days. From our first week of sinking hopes on a sinking raft, through four hurricanes that swept under us, to the unbelievable chance meeting with Roz Savage in the middle of nowhere, we have had quite an adventure. We’ve collected 10 ocean surface samples using our marine debris trawl, managed to snatch a few large pieces of plastic debris that floated under us, and caught fish with stomachs filled with particles of plastic. Plastic is forever, and it’s everywhere.

That’s been our point. The Synthetic Century should have ended 8 years ago, replaced by the Age of Sustainability. There are over 20,000 man-made chemicals produced by the billions of pounds annually that are dispersed throughout the globe in an open loop of consumption that often ends as waste to be buried, burned or to flow down coastal watersheds out to sea. It is unsustainable and deeply troubling knowing that many synthetic compounds are persistent in the environment and are harmful to wildlife and humans. Plastic marine debris is one of them, and is the most ubiquitous form of pollution visible around the world. It is clear that single-use disposable plastic products have no place in modern society.

We return to society tomorrow if all goes well, to the world of alarm clocks, calendars, cars and shoes. Three months is enough time to forget the world you left and accept a new reality. But not everything is forgotten. I long for my friends, family and fiancée. I crave fresh veggies and exercise. In three months I wonder how I will reflect on this summer? Will there be days when I will find myself wishing to be back on JUNK, even if only for a minute? I don’t know what this experience will bring, but it is my intention to use it as a starting point for hundreds of conversations about solutions to the plastic plague. We have, in half a century, transformed 2/3rds of the ocean surface into a plastic soup. Knowing what I know, it would be immoral to do nothing.

As I watch the sun set on the final day at sea, I am overcome more with humility than excitement. I am truly humbled by the efforts of so many people that have made this journey a reality. Donations of time and funds came pouring in once we committed to this project, and thousands of people followed our story online. From an idea sketched on paper years ago, to the final miles of an amazing adventure, I can only say “Thank you.”

Best wishes,
Marcus

And for Joel's final words, read on:
Land oh! I spotted land this afternoon at 1:45 Hawaii Time. The flanks of Mount Haleakala were showing through the clouds on East Maui. It’s been 85 days since we were towed out of Rainbow Harbor in Long Beach and around two months since sailing away from Isla de Guadalupe, the last piece of land sighted.

Junk was built in Long Beach next to the mouth of the Los Angeles River. Everyday I was there working on Junk the tide would push plastic debris into the harbor and remind me why as doing this. In the 2600 nautical miles since then we have observed all kinds of plastic debris floating and collected in the trawl. We have also watched a small school of fish, rainbow runners, that have been following Junk, grow from small fries with their egg sack attached to juveniles close to a foot in length. They too have traveled through the gyre gathering plastic debris. After catching one of the larger rainbow runners we looked in it’s stomach and found it was full of plastic bits including a pre-production plastic pellet or a nurdle. It gives me a profound sense that there is no place and no life form on earth that isn’t being affected by the on slot of synthetic chemicals that humans are releasing into the environment. It also brings home the point that planetary life support system works in cycles and we eventually learn (usually the hard way) that things we once though were benign directly affect human health and that there is no difference between environmental health and human health.

I am looking forward to being on land, but I’m staying focused on the task at hand, that is safely navigating Junk through the Kaiwi Channel between Molokai and Oahu and into the Ala Wai Harbor. The open ocean has it’s challenges but sailing close to land is often more dangerous. Kalaupapa Peninsula almost wrecked Don McFarland on his rafting voyage from California to Hawaii more than fifty years ago. We trying to stay at least 10 nautical miles north of Kalaupapa but not so far north that we get trapped on the windward side of Oahu and blown into the sea cliffs around Makapu’u. Right now the weather is perfect. We’re making our course dead-on and at this speed we should arrive at Diamond Head around noon.
Malaho for following the Junk Blog!
Joel
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Final JUNK PSA and arrival details

2008-08-24T17:35:00.000-07:00

PSA #8 from JUNK: Solving The Problem:

As for the arrival:

JUNK will be pulling into the Ala Wai Fuel Dock at around 10:00 am, Wednesday the 27th, to what we hope will be a wonderful welcoming. All are invited! Give a call Tuesday if you want more exact arrival times: 310-998-8616

After a few days of rest, showers, fresh food, and reconnecting with their land legs, JUNK's crew will join Surfrider, The Nature Conservancy, The Kokua Foundation, and others at Sunset on the Beach, for music, activities, booths, food, and a word or two from JUNK (and perhaps Roz!)

Also on the program is an evening event at the Hawaii Yacht Club on September 3rd, with slides and tales; a press conference with Roz Savage and her Brocade on September 4th at the Waikiki Aquarium, and a North Shore party Saturday September 6th at Kainoa's Bar.

Details to come - hope to see you on Wednesday!

Joel's bristleworm and marine debris

2008-08-24T07:26:00.000-07:00

Less than 100 miles to go per recent satellite phone conversation!

And a few words from Joel on a recent pet he found on a piece of floating debris:

While on watch earlier this week I spotted something large floating towards us. I put JUNK hard over and managed to scoop up a chunk of a plastic crate. We often see plastic crates in the Gyre. I’m not sure way we see so many. Maybe a nearby fishery uses - and often loses them overboard. The crate had started the process of photodegredation. Not only did we fid a bristleworm hitching a ride, it was brittle, cracked, and had the owner’s name or boat’s initials “JR” with a floral design melted into. Anybody know any fisherman named JR missing a crate?
Read on for Joel's continued Marine Debris Observations

Now that we are in the North Pacific Gyre the amount of debris that floats by has greatly increased. Last week I saw a basketball sized ball of rope float by. The fish that have been with us since they hatched and were recently swimming around with their yolk sack still attached, swam out to check the ball of rope out. They came back to JUNK with some friends, two black and white fish that all are also staying with us now.

When getting in the water to spear Mahi Mahi it’s almost like swimming through a snow globe of plastic confetti. From the surface you may only see a fleck of plastic here and there but once in the water you can see the plastic bits floating deeper in the water column. I’ve seen the all too common packing strap both on the surface and underwater while diving. JUNK’s debris trawl does a great job of collecting the plastic fragments from the surface and concentrating them into a sample that make quite a visual impact when you hold in our hand and see all the little plastic pieces swirling around. It’s a great way of educating people on land about the magnitude of the problem, but getting in the water in the middle of the ocean and seeing more plastic floating around me than life make even more of an impact and gives me profound feeling that we are smothering the planet with all of our synthetic waste.

180 miles to go!

2008-08-22T19:02:00.001-07:00

Just 180 miles to go. We’re almost due north of Hilo. This morning I scanned the deck for flying fish and found one. I’ll likely use it as bait to catch another Rainbow Runner. Joel and I think constantly about making landfall next week. I want a fresh salad and Joel wants a beer. What we don’t want: ANY MORE FISH!

(Our intrepid sailors don't know this yet, nor can they read the blog....but thanks to Kona Brewing company, they will have cold ones awaiting their arrival!)

We’re still catching fish though. Joel is making jerky for his friends in Honolulu. Right now, we’re more interested in the guts than the meat. Ever since finding that Rainbow Runner filled with plastic, we’ve collected 4 more of them and two Mahi Mahi. Of the four little fish, three were 4-5 inches with empty stomachs. The 8-inch Rainbow Runner had plastic in its gut. The Mahi Mahi were empty. We would like to catch one with fish still in it’s stomach, then dissect the stomach contents to see if big fish are eating little fish that eat plastic. And here is the rest of it.

Plastic Sushi:

2008-08-22T06:48:00.001-07:00

Here it is.....this should be all the reason we need to start seriously reexamining our trashy ways.

Groundbreaking JUNK News: Plastic Sushi

2008-08-19T23:53:00.000-07:00

We remember seeing little 1-inch fish with yolk sacks still attached swimming next to JUNK 5 weeks ago. They followed our raft, enjoying the security of its undulating underbelly with nooks and crannies to hide in. They would ride what little bow wake JUNK created, and at times keeping up with the raft at 3 knots. Now they are a foot long, with yellow stripes, and there are fewer of them.

This morning I awoke to find two thumb-size flying fish on board. They became bait and soon I had one of the yellow fish on deck. I cut two fillets out of it and then opened it’s stomach. It was full of plastic. A dozen large fragments, and nothing else, filled the tiny stomach to capacity. There is no way this fish, at this size, will be able to pass those fragments.

These plastic particles, including one pre-production plastic pellet, are sinks for several persistent organic pollutants. PCBs, DDT and PAHs from the incomplete burning of fossils fuels, absorb into plastic marine debris, making the particles toxic. From the size of the particles inside the stomach, and the size of the fish’s cloaca, there is no way this fish can pass the plastic through its body. Therefore there will likely be a long residence period. Will the toxins in the plastic leach into the tissues of the fish?

This question about migration of toxins into the fisheries we harvest is the question we want to know now. Is plastic marine debris a vector for pollutants to enter the food chain and eventually your dinner plate?

To date, 267 species have been known to ingest or be entangled by plastic. Captain Charles Moore recently discovered #268, the 2-4 inch nocturnal lantern fish. Half of the specimens collected had plastic in their guts. One even had 84 individual fragments. Our fish, #269, adds to the list of marine organisms impacted by manmade synthetic compounds.

Please check out our website to see what research we are conducting on plastic in the marine environment. In the meantime, can anyone identify this fish to the species level?

Jack Johnson Foundation and JUNK press!

2008-08-19T15:24:00.001-07:00

A few exciting bits of recent media for Algalita and JUNK:

Algalita was chosen to be a partner for Jack Johnson's All At Once campaign, joining people from around the world who are active in their communities, to inspire and create positive change.

From now until September 14th, any donation sent to Algalita will be matched by the Johnson Ohana Charitable Foundation - up to $2500. And every time viewers watch our video on the website (currently featuring JUNK), AMRF receives a donation.

And on the media front, JUNK has received some wonderful recent press as the ETA approaches - yesterday's Honolulu Star Bulletin ran a great article on the JUNK - Roz meetup, and the Honolulu Advertiser also plugged the arrival.

And Joel's home town paper in Lafayette also ran an article. The word is spreading far and wide.

This was, and continues to be our ultimate goal: to draw attention to Algalita's critical research on plastic debris, and get people talking about solutions. The growing accumulation of plastic in our oceans may well have devastating impacts on marine ecosystems - impacts we are only just beginning to understand. Our window for addressing this problem will disappear unless we have greater public awareness, enlightened leadership, and engaged citizens. We're all responsible.

The home stretch!

2008-08-18T16:31:00.000-07:00

We crossed 500 two days ago, 400 this afternoon, and we expect to arrive in Honolulu in 8 more days. It definitely feels like the home stretch now. Maintenance is still paramount, but new projects are off the table. There are only standing watches and passing time left to do. We still drag the marine debris trawl behind us. Still, every sample is filled with small fragments of plastic debris.

Today, to celebrate the 400 mark, we had cheesecake. We've been hording a stock of freeze dried food that was given to us on the dock before we departed by a Dave, a volunteer for the project. "You might need these." Two and a half months later, you were absolutely right. And of course, thanks to Roz Savage we are enjoying a delightful assortment of dehydrated meals and Larabars. We often wonder where she is right now.

As I close this email there are 383 miles to go. At 1.7 knots, we should be enjoying pizza soon.

Meanwhile, plans are coming together for a wonderful arrival celebration, in collaboration with Roz Savage. Details to come for all the Hawaii folks.

PSA #7: Cleaning this mess up?

2008-08-16T07:19:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, CNN ran a wonderful article on JUNK in their science blogs section, "The Pacific toilet bowl that never flushes".

After describing the problem of plastic debris in the gyre, CNN producer Marsha Walton concludes with a public call for suggestions:

"So, any ideas from the brains of our astute blog readers? How would you fix this? Outlaw single use plastic items? Push for plastics that biodegrade? Put a litter cop on every ocean-going vessel? Teach your kids to respect the planet?"

So far her query has elicited 116 responses! Everything from getting fleets of fishing boats to trawl for trash, to demanding UN involvement, to curbing our production of plastics. And more (for a full list, read the post)

The suggestion of netting, scooping, or trawling out the plastic is often posed.....unfortunately its simply not a feasible option, yet. Too big an area, and the debris far too difuse. Here's Marcus on why cleanup is impractical:

Video from JUNK's Roz Savage meetup

2008-08-15T07:55:00.001-07:00

JUNK/Roz recount: like two snails chasing each other

2008-08-14T19:07:00.000-07:00

A wonderful recount from JUNK of the other night's historic mid-Pacific encounter. Here Roz has the boys in a savage headlock....

Those two hours 600 miles from land, the highlight of our trip, an encounter with tremendous joy and gratitude, were spent with Roz Savage aboard JUNK. Her boat, Brocade, saddled up next to JUNK at 6pm on August 12th, after three days of communicating our whereabouts back and forth. “We’re like two snails chasing each other,” Roz said, regarding our respective methods of movement. JUNK only sails. Roz is rowing across the Pacific Ocean.

Joel and I listened to the VHF radio to her tender British voice, wondering, “Do you think she looks more like Princess Diana or the Queen?” Joel spotted her first a mile off the bow. Within 200 feet of each other we threw out the sea anchor and dropped the sail. The first attempt to toss her a line failed, so I swam out to her with the end of the line and a handshake. She looked like Guinevere in pigtails with the forearms of Popeye.

Aboard JUNK we gave her the grand tour of patched pontoons, broken masts and worn lashings. Bobbing next to her streamlined, carbon-fiber, competitive rowboat with waterproof hatches, JUNK appears to have well earned its name. We knew our time would be short, and that we hadn’t seen other human beings for 2 ½ months, therefore we intuitively cut through the small talk and had real conversations, equally enjoying the company, if nothing else.

Roz was in need of water. Both of her watermakers malfunctioned. We were in need of food, having resorted to peanut butter for the bulk of our nutrition. We had two watermakers, and plenty of water in buckets. Roz had food, and plenty of it. Before climbing aboard JUNK, she hurled three bags of food over to us, and three empty containers. We had been making water all morning, so we quickly gave her a full stock to keep her going. We peeked in the bags she gave us, as if Joel and I were children on Halloween. “What did you get Joel?” I asked. “Larabars and Teriyaki chicken,” he said. “I got turkey jerky,” I replied, thinking that I can now refrain from eating the fish jerky still hanging outside. There’s an underlying joy, not in the prospect of full meals, but in giving, the reciprocal altruism that is deeply human.

Read the full account here:

Joel jumped in the water after a school of Mahi Mahi that had been following us all day. I asked Roz, “So what do you do to keep your mind active?” She knew exactly what I was talking about. I described that in my experience thus far, there have been moments of ecstatic joy and bottom of the barrel sadness, blooming randomly in a wide, open field of boredom. She responded, “I can focus on rowing, or anticipate the next tea break, and then there’s audio tapes. But it’s different from when I rowed the Atlantic…” This isn’t Roz’s first long distance rowing expedition. “…there were more doubts and more to think and worry about. For example, when my watermaker broke this time, I simply said, ‘oh well.’” Here blue eyes are loaded with experience and the patience that comes with it. You get to a point where you can choose to worry or not worry about things, because worry simply doesn’t change anything outside your head. I looked overboard to see Joel struggling toward the raft.

“Hana pa’a!” he yelled. A three-foot Mahi Mahi thrashed as I heaved it on deck. A quick cut above the eyes and it’s still. Joel climbed out of the water, and turned on the stove. I handed him the first filet, the muscle still twitching. In minutes we’re enjoying curried fish, a gift from the sea. We promised Roz a fish, and Joel came through. I could see Joel was content, as I was, having the opportunity to give to someone else. Roz appeared to feel the same way.

We’re all here to raise awareness about the issue of plastic marine debris. Just before Joel nabbed dinner, I retrieved a small sieve towed behind JUNK. I unscrewed the cod end to show Roz the contents of our research trawl. “Many people think it’s an island of plastic trash out here, but it’s worse.” I showed Roz the particulate fragments of plastic collected along with a few jellyfish, halobates and zooplankton. “If it were an island, it could be mined. The reality is that it’s a thin soup, with millions of tons of plastic, the size of peas and smaller, distributed around the world. There’s no techno-fix, only a cultural one.” This sample is for Roz to use in her efforts to show the public what’s happening to our oceans.

But are there deeper reasons other than the issue of plastic marine debris for exposing one’s life to the intolerances of the sea? Perhaps it’s the 360-degree view of stars to the horizon, or the identity we gather from our adventures, like feathers in our cap, or it’s the novelty of unanticipated consequences of just being truly present in the world. I don’t know, perhaps all of the above. The sun is beginning to set behind a bank of clouds. The last rays are an unspoken cue that it’s time to part ways. We take a few photos together, and Roz autographs our cabin with a marker, “No doubt, you’re the coolest guys I’ve met in the last three months. Thanks for a great dinner. Bon Voyage. ROZ.” We watch her drift away, and the silhouette of her oars in the air as she begins rowing another 600 miles to Hawaii.

JUNK meets up with Roz Savage!

2008-08-14T00:50:00.000-07:00

A miraculous reunion. In the middle of the vast Pacific Ocean, JUNK and the Brocade, two tiny motorless crafts, managed to locate one another, meet up for dinner, trade essential supplies, and marvel at the wonder of it all.....

Stay tuned for a full recount and a video from Marcus tomorrow. Meanwhile a few photos here: Marcus and Roz with The Algalita Marine Research Foundation flag, and sporting some tools to kick plastic: an Ecousable water bottle, and a Bring Your Own bag!

JUNK gaining on Roz

2008-08-11T11:08:00.000-07:00

The two Pacific voyages have yet to rendezvous, but getting closer......JUNK and Roz are in communication every few hours, trying to pinpoint one another's coordinates. Here's their latest, tracked by Michael on Kaua'i.

Hoping they meet soon - Roz's extra Larabars have got to beat the raw squid Marcus and Joel tried the other day. Seems Joel has a tougher stomach or a more experimental palate than Marcus.....

And here is the rest of it.

Savage encounter!?

2008-08-10T06:27:00.000-07:00

For a few weeks now, we’ve been trying to orchestrate a marine meeting with Roz Savage an incredibly daring British adventurer who is also crossing the Pacific....IN A ROWBOAT!

Roz’s story is an inspiration to all. Though she had, for all intents and purposes achieved success - a stable, high paying job, a house, a dog, and a picket white fence, Roz found her self strangely unhappy. So she ditched the whole package to pursue a dream, and in 2006, became the first woman to row across the Atlantic. Now 2 years later, Roz is 3 months into her next challenge, a solo row across the Pacific. Amazing.

Many months ago, Roz contacted Algalita, as her mission is also to bring attention to the plastic debris issue. There was talk then of somehow linking up, but the discussion was lost in the flurry of preparations, to say nothing of the seeming impossibility of meeting up “somewhere in the middle of the Pacific”. It would be a miracle. And yet...

Their respective coordinates for the past few weeks showed Roz and JUNK on a similar course. Map here, courtesy of Michael, shows their proximity. Two days ago, JUNK was a mere 20 miles away. And yesterday the two boats were finally able to chat on the satellite phone, after numerous attempts through Roz’s wonderful mother Rita. Marcus and Joel thought they’d likely pass Roz sometime Sunday evening or Monday morning.

We’re now on pins and needles, awaiting the news. Though they are close, the difficulty of maneuvering two unusual rigs with limited navigability amidst sizable swells is no joke.

An at sea encounter would be a huge blessing for both. Not only could they exchange key survival supplies - a watermaker for Roz, and some snacks for JUNK - the human contact would be a godsend. Roz hasn’t seen a soul since she set forth on May 26th, while Marcus and Joel have only had one another for company. God knows some delightful female energy would do wonders for their spirits!

Stand by and think good thoughts for a Savage - JUNK reunion. This would be an incredibly cool happening.
And here is the rest of it.

Kamikaze squid = Mahi meal

2008-08-08T02:51:00.001-07:00

August 7th
We’re 825 miles from Honolulu. Joel just made a grab for a piece of tangled fishing line floating under the raft. We’re now having to take turns at the helm as we sail downwind and the wind picks up. The morning sun brought 30 knot winds and endless whitecaps across the horizon.

Yesterday was more calm, a chance to hang out on deck. While Joel stood on top of the fuselage, a dozen small squid leapt 8-10 feet out of the sea. One smacked Joel in the chest. He promptly ate it. The rest we used as bait, and soon reeled in a Mahi Mahi. It bought us two meals, a bit of insurance against our dwindling supplies. We’ve got just enough food to make it home.
And here is the rest of it.

JUNK-n-Gyre

2008-08-07T07:29:00.000-07:00

A few posts back, we heard about the mini trawl Marcus and Joel fashioned at sea. Like a plankton net, the trawl is a fine, mesh net used to skim the oceans surface, and analyze the collected contents for plastics.

Here, Marcus discusses what they are beginning to find (three guesses, first two don't count) as JUNK skirts the edge of the infamous North Pacific Gyre....

As JUNK is now in the gyre, the notorious plastic soup zone, Marcus and Joel have been on the lookout for debris all along. See here Joel’s marine debris observations, starting from their launch back in June:
Part I

I try to spend several hour each day looking out to sea while listening to my iPod and there is quite a few things to look for, hazards like tanker ships that could run us over or large pieces of floating debris like shipping containers, changes in weather, or interesting and tasty sea-life. And of course plastic debris.

At first, most of the plastic debris I've seen so far was right there in Long Beach's Rainbow Harbor, where we built and launched JUNK. Plastic bags, snack bags, bottles bottle caps, all kinds of packaging, rubber slippers and organic slime. The mouth of the LA river is next to the entrance to Rainbow harbor and the tide seemed to bring a fresh load of rubbish during float. Everyday four or more workers went around with long nets and tried to scoop up the flotsam – an exercise in futility, as “fresh” trash poured down the river and into the harbor daily. On days when the tide brought in lots of debris they brought out the "Trash Boat", with large booms that scoop the trash on board. It didn't seem to work to well though. The water displaced by the hull of the boat would push the plastic rubbish further underwater before the boom could scoop it up. I talked to one of the city workers and they said that the boat can’t pick up items like plastic that have a density close to that of water and float just below the surface.

It made me think...if we cannot clean one little harbor on a budget that can afford four employees and a boat how could we expect to clean up an area the size of the North Pacific Gyre?

Part II

The ocean surrounding the Channel Islands had a lot of observable plastic debris floating on the surface, mostly common items like bottles and bottle caps, fishing floats and plastic bags. I didn't notice much fouling. Fouling is marine growth like algae, barnacles or coral on man-made things in the ocean. Heavy fouling can indicate that a piece of debris has been in the ocean for a long time. Most of the debris I saw around the Channel Islands had very little, suggesting it was litter that had recently washed into the ocean. The presence of a large amount of debris with little fouling and little heavily fouled debris can indicate an area that disperses debris instead of collecting it. I would guess that the floating rubbish from the LA river washes up on local beaches or moves off shore and makes a long voyage around and around in the North Pacific Gyre.

Part III

After leaving the Channel Islands we sailed south staying about 100 miles off the coast of Baja California. South of Isla Guadalupe we started heading west. I spent a good amount of time staring out at sea during that time. We were becalmed several times which makes it easier to observe small photodegraded pieces of plastic that are nearly the same density as sea water and tend to get pushed down the water column when the wind stirs up the water and then raise to the surface when the seas are calm. Yet in spite of being close to land and being becalmed often I didn't see much debris at all. Mostly just palm leaves and kelp, the “good” type of marine debris.

More to come....

999 miles to go!

2008-08-06T01:13:00.000-07:00

Actually, fewer at this point. I'm currently out of the country, thus a slight lag in blog posting - breaking the 1,000 mile mark happened a few days ago.

Meanwhile, Marcus and Joel are preparing for a diet of peanut butter and jerky. Which, all things said and done, sure beats the plastic fragments many marine creatures are feasting on.....
-----------------------

999 miles to go! We’ve got three weeks of meals, then it’s peanut butter and fish till Hawaii. If we can average 42 miles toward Oahu per day, then we will be fine. We’re 0-3 on fishing. The other day I got one with the spear, flung it on deck, and watched it flop back in the water. Three feet of steaks, sushi, curry and jerky back in the sea. Then Joel hooked one, but it got caught on the netting of the pontoon and wriggled its way off the hook. Then yesterday I missed an easy shot with the spear gun. It’s one thing if you’re fishing for sport, but when you’re hungry it’s a different story. We will probably drop the sails today and take a dip in the drink for better luck.

We got an email from Don McFarland the other day. He’s the fellow that rafted to Hawaii on a 20-ton wooden box in 69 days back in 1958. I remember thinking, “We’re a lighter raft, fewer people, and better technology.” We’re 65 days at sea, with three weeks to go. We planned and provisioned for 50 days. Don said they used t-shirts to sieve the ocean for plankton. “Tasted like lobster,” he said. We’ve been trawling the ocean as well, but our samples are proving to be more plastic than plankton. Very filling I imagine, but not very nutritious. There is no way I would eat this stuff....unless we ran out of fish and peanut butter perhaps.

Meanwhile, our boat is suffering the predictable wear and tear of a long journey. Inevitable entroy, requiring constant vigilance and maintenance, as you'll see here:

Now for a few responses to recent blog comments:

Janelle in Tanzania, I was in Arusha years ago and walked up Kili to see the melting glacier. One thing I also noticed in East Africa was the use of disposable plastic without an infrastructure to deal with it. I saw bottles and bags everywhere. What do you see there today?

Sumwearnnyc – Yes, kind of like Life of Pi, but no tigers. Just Mahi Mahi.

Kim – You mentioned your use of plastic on your blog being a different focus than ours. Could you share any details with us?

Quasivoid – You said, “the disagreeable feeling it gives us is not an excuse to do nothing about it.” My sentiments exactly.

Maki – The image of other organisms eating or becoming entangled in plastic has been documented in 267 species thus far. The Algalita Marine Research Foundation visited the North Pacific Gyre earlier this year (That’s where Anna and I met Joel) to study plastic marine debris. We caught small fish in our nets called “Myctophids”. Recently, in the lab, we’ve dissected them and everyone had plastic in their stomachs. Make that 268 species.

Anonymous – Yes, we are sampling the ocean surface with a 1 mm net. We’ve been finding small plastic fragments in every sample.

Ron – Thanks for adding us to the list of masochists that raft the ocean. Thor H. just might be looking down and smiling, or laughing. One big difference between our rafting voyage and all others is that we can’t eat plankton. When we trawl for the stuff, most of it is plastic.
Regarding a contribution, please check out the “Message in a Bottle” link on our blog and sponsor a bottle. You can sponsor a case, send us an email with a message, and I’ll write it out an put it in one of the bottles on our raft.

Wallace J. Nichols – We haven’t seen any turtles yet. I would love to see a loggerhead. When I was in college in New Orleans years ago, I was involved with the Sea Turtle Stranding Network. We documented turtle deaths along the Gulf Coast. We never had a chance to do a necropsy on stomach contents. It seems you’re doing more with sea turtles than the average person. Do you have any info on stomach contents, or stories of entanglement to share? If I see any turtles, I’ll try to get a photo and look for tags.

Jessica – It is difficult to go 30 days without plastic. It’s all around us and nearly impossible to avoid in the developed world, or actually anywhere else as well.

Curt in Seattle – Provided I make it to Hawaii before the end of the month, I’ll be in Seattle giving a talk around Sept. 9th. I look forward to reading the details about the successful legislation in your neck of the woods. Although recycling programs are necessary, they are failures by themselves. Legislation is the key. Thank you Seattle for taking a lead.

Brad & Alicia – You’ve got the right idea “Bring Your Own!” is the slogan we should champion. Begin with your own reusable bag, coffee mug and water bottle. Thank you for making these fine suggestions on our blog.

Beachgal – Thank you for your kindness. This morning we crossed the 1000 mile mark. We will feast today on Mac and Cheese and our second to last can of mixed veggies. Who knows, we might just have some beef jerky on the side. It’s party time!

Anonymous – You asked “How do you post videos?” Joel and I have video cameras on board, which we download scenes to my computer. I edit 30-45 second videos and compress them to under .5mb. Using my satellite phone and an external antennae, I email the file to Anna Cummins, our blog writer. At a minute per second it takes a while. Anna then uploads the file to YouTube.

Lai, Prasoon, and Russki – Thank you for your good wishes. We’ve got roughly three weeks to go, as long as the raft holds up – and our food.

Pherehormonal – Thanks for the squid facts, and catching that they use both water jets and fins to move. I forgot to mention the water jets. After I sent that photo to Anna, our blog writer, Joel caught a beautiful cuttlefish. We let it go, too difficult not to anthropomorphize the black eyes and raised brow. Really beautiful animal. BUT, if we could harness them to the boat to make us go faster, I probably wouldn’t hesitate to lasso as many as I could.

JUNK in the GYRE: the toilet bowl that never flushes

2008-08-04T09:12:00.000-07:00

August 3rd

We’re in the Gyre, or at least the southeastern edge of it. And there’s trash. We’ve got our marine debris trawl deployed to collect it. Remember, the North Pacific Gyre is a clockwise rotating mass of water roughly twice the size of the U.S. where currents and winds slow down. It’s like a toilet bowl that never flushes. JUNK is currently floating at 24N latitude and 139W longitude.

Take a look at the 20-year study done by Jim Ingraham tracking a couple dozen buoys around the Pacific Ocean.

In the photo, the red dots are buoys released from Japan, and the blue squares are buoys released from North America. They floated in circles around the Pacific Ocean for two decades until settling in the middle of the gyre (and are probably still there.) But plastic debris is not confined to these zones.

In February 2008, Joel, Anna and I were half the crew aboard the ORV Alguita with Captain Charles Moore traveling 4000 miles from Hawaii to the center of the Pacific Ocean and returning to Long Beach California. We discovered that plastic debris exists everywhere in the North Pacific Gyre. In 1999 Captain Moore first discovered the oceanic landfill, or “seafill” with a concentration of .002grams per square meter. Then in 2005 the density jumped to .004, doubling in only 6 years. Now in 2008 we have yet to process the latest samples, but we can confidently say it’s gotten worse.

Even the American Chemistry Council, a trade organization representing the major U.S. plastic industries, conducted their own study of plastic marine debris. They replicated our study, but chose a location in the Pacific Ocean where you wouldn’t expect to find any plastic at all, the Bering Sea....read on for more details:

The Bering Sea sits under a low-pressure system that kicks debris out, whereas the North Pacific Gyre is a constant high-pressure system sucking debris in. The Bering Sea is also adjacent to a sparsely populated coastline. You wouldn’t expect to find plastic there at all. Yet, there it was. The ACC confirmed that wherever you go in the Pacific Ocean you are bound to find plastic. It’s everywhere.

JUNK is skirting the edge of the gyre, riding the rim of the toilet bowl. We are using a marine debris trawl with a one-millimeter mesh, and an opening the size of a shoebox. It skims the surface for floating trash. We kept it out all night to see what we would find. Earlier in the day I spotted a few bits of trash: 1inch diameter plastic washer, short length of rope, and a tangled mass of green fishing line or frayed rope as big as my fist. We deployed the marine debris trawl and in the morning were not surprised by what we found.

At night zooplankton migrate from the depths to the surface to feed. It’s the largest migration of wildlife in the world, and it happens every day. Tiny jellies, salps and myctophid fish with light-emitting photophores on their stomachs give off green flashes of light as JUNK sails through the darkness. These creatures swim to the surface to feed, unfortunately on a diet that includes more and more plastic particles. Our trawl captured dozens of visible white, blue, green, grey and black fragments of plastic.

There was a piece of a plastic bag, a possible milk crate, fishing line, a pre-production plastic pellet, and a flexible, green, triangular fragment perhaps once a piece of a flip-flop. Interestingly, the red, orange and tan pieces are gone. Once again, everywhere you go in the Pacific Ocean there is plastic trash.

Today we will deploy our marine debris trawl again. We will likely sample every day until we arrive in Honolulu, which should be in about 4 weeks.

JUNK PSA 5: A Plastic Diet

2008-08-02T07:41:00.000-07:00

Beyond simply a disagreeable eyesore, plastic debris has far more dangerous impacts on marine wildlife that commonly mistake plastic for a snack. Heres JUNK to tell you more, straight from the North Pacific Gyre:
And here is the rest of it.

JUNK - the 411

2008-08-01T14:25:00.000-07:00

The last few posts have focused on fish, squid, sail speeds, and general sanity. Bringing it back to the mission:

Here's a reminder of why JUNK - why two men cast themselves to the wild seas on a pile of junk, enduring fish and granola for breakfast, and only one another's company for several months:

Squid Parts

2008-07-31T08:20:00.000-07:00

Apparently intrigued by what it saw, this inquisitive squid launched itself onto JUNK for a closer look, a costly move for little Mr. Calamari. Finding him on deck the next morning, Marcus checks him out, and finds that squid have some pretty interesting features...

JUNK flying along, launch revisited

2008-07-29T22:39:00.000-07:00

As of 9:30 tonight, JUNK was forging ahead at top speeds (relative, of course), possibly making today another record mileage day. Last night, she hit record speeds - 3.2 knots - a 58 mile day.

I asked Marcus how JUNK performs at high speed. Other than some new and strange bottle crunching noises, she apparently does just fine!

With the half-way mark now passed, heres a great reminder of why we're doing this, put together by our amazing friend and media savior Randy Olson.

And here is the rest of it.

Hit the halfway mark!!

2008-07-29T11:04:00.000-07:00

July 28, 2008

We’ve crossed the 1300 mile mark, and the midway point of the trip in terms of miles traveled and miles to go. On top of that, we traveled a record 56 miles in 24 hours! If we keep this up we’ll be home before you can say, “I’m dying for something to eat besides fish and granola.”

Our spirits are up, knowing that we’ve got 3-4 weeks to go, provided all goes as anticipated. Right now our main objective is maintenance. The raft is suffering a bit, as all boats do. Last night the eyebolt holding the mainsail gave way, but was caught by the chain we installed a few days earlier. The galvanized wire holding up the mast is beginning to fray in places. We’ve got tons of rope to replace them if needed. Bottles and netting are holding up fine at this point. Today we will drop the mainsail and do a little maintenance for a couple of hours. This is just a fact of all boats.

What has impressed us is the durability of everything in light of the few small failures. Joel has kept the batteries tapped, constantly chasing short circuits. I’m still making mini-pontoons, sewing netting as I find weak spots, and tightening lashings between the deck and pontoons.

To mark the milestones in our trip, we decided to celebrate. Tonight we’ll whip up two boxes of macaroni and cheese, and share a pack of beef jerky. Wild times!

P.S. Check out Ecousable to find alternatives to the disposable plastic bottle.
And here is the rest of it.

(Clearly this isn't a photo from JUNK (our sailors looking clean shaven and, well, clean) but as there was no image for todays blog: this was a celebratory moment on our 2008 Gyre Voyage with Algalita, when we committed to take JUNK on. I imagine they'd trade a lot of jerky right now for a pina colada....)

How JUNK communicates from sea

2008-07-28T09:54:00.000-07:00

Here's how Marcus and Joel are able to communicate with the world, floating in the middle of the Pacific - the longest uninterrupted expanse of ocean in the world. We are tremendously grateful to our communication sponsors. This makes the sheer isolation bearable for our two sailors.....who are always eager for news from home. So keep the comments coming!

How people did this back in the day, before satellite phones and GPS, is truly astounding.

Joel Sails JUNK

2008-07-27T07:55:00.000-07:00

Watch Joel's facial hair morph as he discusses techniques for sailing JUNK. They use 4 sails to take full advantage of the varying weather conditions - including FRANKENSAIL, a key sail Joel Macgyvered at sea. Those keen on navigation nitty gritty:
The sailors out there will relate: navigation begins with knowing your boat's strengths and weaknesses.

Junk is fastest when running downwind, but can make progress with the wind on her beam. The rhumb line bearing from our current location to Honolulu is 254.8 degrees.

The bearing is the direction, North=0 or 360, East=90, South=180 and West= 270. So 254.8 is West Southwest. Since the ideal wind for Junk comes from straight behind, we want wind coming from our reciprocal bearing. To calculate the reciprocal of 254.8 degrees, subtract 180--gives us 74.8 degrees or East Northeast. Since Junk can sail 90 degree off the wind, we can add 90 degrees to 74.8, and subtract 90 degrees from 74.8, to get 164.8 degrees and 347.8 degrees.

Is anyone's head spinning yet?

So....we need winds between approx 75 degrees and 350 degrees, roughly 3/4 of the compass! Only in Southwest, or zero winds are we slowed, during which time we drift, read, cook, work on boat projects, blog, and rest...

Next key: knowing where the favorable winds are. At times, we may even reroute our course to seek better winds and better time.

One of the best ways of forecasting the winds within a month is to use a pilot chart:

This here was for the month of June. The circles with radiating arms are wind roses. The wind frequency from any direction is proportional to the arm's length, while widths indicate the frequency of wind speeds blowing in that direction. Do you see the small blue dot on this chart? I drew this next to the closest wind rose. Shows mostly North, Northwest and West winds, with speeds between 4 and 6 on the Beaufort scale.

We're hoping for stronger winds -- tricky to make an efficient beam reach with light winds.

The next step is to look at the wind roses nearby, to see which where the favorable winds are coming from. South Southwest has a very long North Northwest arm with a wind frequency range of 4-6 on the Beaufort scale. From there, a North Northwest wind will allow us to sail Southwest into the even more consistent easterly, or "trade winds", used by ship’s in the 1700’s to sail west across Atlantic and Pacific trade routes.

The blue arrows, representing current direction, point in a westerly direction. The more solid the line, the greater consistency in the current direction. The arrow's tail indicates speed.

We also use the chart plotter/GPS to navigate - essentially an electronic version of the paper chart.

The GPS interfaces with the chart plotter and indicates Junk’s position, as a black triangular shape on the screen. We use the chart to avoid hazards - islands, rocks or shoals with breaking waves. As the saying goes “The ocean is not that dangerous, it’s the hard parts around the edges that will get ya”.

The chart plotter shows our Latitude and longitude, our Course Over Ground (COG), and our Speed Over Ground (SOG). While sailing, we can experiment with different sail trimming configurations, comparing COG and SOG to monitor improvements.

The charter plotter also allows us to pick a waypoint to assess our bearing and remaining distance, and acts as the screen for our AIS system.

In short, extremely helpful tools.

Zen and the art of JUNK maintenance

2008-07-25T15:36:00.000-07:00

*Photo of Joel atop mast taken during JUNK construction, pre-launch. Here for kicks.*

July 25th

The sails hang still, like the edge of an oversized tablecloth reaching lazily to the floor. There is no wind again today. We were becalmed 10 days ago, then a gentle breeze brought 500 miles of west. Becalmed again, I step outside to find Mahi Mahi under our raft. Hopefully they will grace our menu. I walk around the deck conducting my ritualistic inspection of bottles, netting, integrity of lashings and welded parts, wear on lines, exposed wires on stays, and a general look and keen listen for things that are different than before.

We noticed a problem - the top of the mast was cracking. I spotted two three-inch cracks coming down from the masthead. And the eyebolt holding the mainsail secure to the masthead was bent open. We’re lucky it didn’t fail under way. What to do? Fortunately, we had two pieces of chain we used to create a bridge between the stays to support the failing eyebolt. A couple of large hose clamps tightened around the top of the mast stopped the crack from lengthening.

As we’ve said before, boats require maintenance, especially when underway, as the stress of sailing makes everything move, rub, grind, and abrade. I also discovered that where the aluminum airplane fuselage touches the aluminum masts, grooves begin to form. Where netting rubs netting, there are eventual holes. The movements are slow and seemingly innocuous, yet in time change is inevitable. Only with careful inspection can we anticipate these, and stay ahead of the game.

Read on for responses to blog questions about plastics, chemicals, childrens autism, and BPA in canned foods.

To Dawn P's question about chemicals in plastic and rises in childhood autism:
Thank you for a great question. We know that many synthetic compounds found in plastic, which give it properties such as elasticity, color, UV and flame resistance, are also linked to ailments found in humans. We know that synthetic compounds like styrene, bisphenol A, phthalates and nonylphenol are pre-production chemicals found in plastic, and linked to cancer, endocrine disruption, insulin inhibition, and other effects. Then there are the post-production pollutants that adhere to plastic marine debris that hundreds of species have been documented to ingest. The Algalita Marine Research Foundation has discovered significant amounts of DDT, PCBs and PAHs absorbed into plastic. We are finding that these pollutants on plastic, when ingested, migrate into the tissues and organs of some organisms. Those compounds are well known to have adverse effects of wildlife and humans.

I urge you to review the work of Frederick vom Saal, Earl Gray and Ana Soto. I know vom Saal has his published papers available on line. Earl Gray and Ana Soto have done extensive work on endocrine disrupting toxins and their effect on human development and wildlife.

I would be elated to see what research you find. Especially anything published in the last few months, since I've been away for a while.

Cheers,
Marcus

And to the question about BPA in canned foods:

Yes, bisphenol A, the building block of polycarbonate plastic, is all over. It’s that plastic film in cans, dental fillings, polycarbonate water bottles and babyfood bottles. When you touch a new CD or DVD it's on your hands. The argument that it only leaches into food and beverages when heated is false. Scientists have found, that at room temperature, polycarbonate buckets and bowls leach bisphenol A into water (Howdeshell et al., 2003 Environmental Health Perspectives).

Other studies show an alarming relationship between very low doses of bisphenol A and cancer, endocrine disruption and insulin resistance. Bisphenol A is an estrogen mimic, resulting in the growth of cancer cells in the mammary glands and prostate gland in studies of mice. One lab study found that with a dosage of 10µg/kg/day, 100% of the rats developed prostate cancer (Ho et al., 2006, Cancer Research). Another study found bisphenol A, at the same low dose of 10 µg / kg/ day, stimulates abnormal development of basal cells in mouse fetuses. (Timms et al. 2005, PNAS 102:7014). In other studies, the same low dose given to lab rats found at first it stimulates insulin secretion and subsequently causes insulin resistance (Alonso-Magdalena et al. Environmental Health Perspectives. 2006). In humans, researchers found blood levels of BPA were linked to obesity in women (Takeuchi et al. Endo J. 2004). Also, elevated levels of BPA in blood was associated with recurrent miscarriage in women (Takeuchi et al. Endo J. 2004).

What is alarming is that these effects happen in extremely low doses, below human exposure. Bisphenol A is all around us. Even a polycarbonate baby food bottle give your infant a dose of 5 µg/kg/day. The Environmental Protection Agency oral reference dose is 50ug/kg/day, 5 times the dosage found to cause harm in lab studies.

Why does the Environmental Protection Agency permit humans to be in contact with bisphenol A in high doses? To influence regulation, scientists and policymakers work together to draft new policy. Weight of evidence influences that policy. Vom Saal and Hughes reviewed the 161 animal studies with bisphenol A conducted between 1997-2006. They correlated results with funding source.

Chemical corporations fund studies that give desired results. They publish those in trade journals, and reference those when lobbying lawmakers. This creates doubt. Creating doubt is a game industry plays to influence policy. It has been effective to postpone regulation that would hurt their industry, despite the consequences for human health.

It is imperative that the public be involved in the political process. Get to know your political representatives. By contacting them, you can insist that junk science be abandoned. I’m glad one visitor to our blog brought up SB1713, a senate bill to curb the use of bisphenol A in products we come in contact with. Also, contact your local representative to lend your support to California AB 2058. If signed into law, this bill would require large grocery chains and pharmacies statewide to charge a 25 cent fee on single-use plastic and paper bags if a 70% reduction in plastic bag usage is not achieved by the end of 2010.

Best regards,
Marcus

JUNK PSA #4: Toxic Chemistry

2008-07-23T23:53:00.000-07:00

As JUNK roars towards the half way mark, another reminder of what this voyage is all about: drawing public attention to some of the ecological and human health impacts associated with plastic. Like Bisphenol A in baby bottles and toys

Heres Marcus chatting about BPA from the middle of the Pacific Ocean:

Continued thanks to our generous communications sponsors - Long Beach Marine Electronics, OCENS Inc., and Explorer Satellite for making these videos possible.

In April, Canada became the first country to ban baby bottles containing BPA. Will the US follow suit?

Debate with a skeptic Part II

2008-07-22T18:22:00.000-07:00

A while back, we posted some comments from Dr. Williscroft, who questioned our claims that the plastic marine debris issue is a significant one, and warrants immediate action.

An interesting addendum to the story: I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Williscroft at a presentation I gave last week to the Los Angeles Adventurers club. To my surprise, he was extremely amiable, and interested in our research, he simply wanted to see quantitative data to illustrate our claims. Fair enough.

The response from Marcus generated further debate on both ends. For those who have followed this lively dialogue, heres part deux:

"I appreciate your reasoned response, but I still see little quantitative information to sink my teeth into. First, while the story of the train wreck is interesting, it misses the point. This was an example of an urgent problem that was NOT being addressed. I suspect you are addressing a no-urgent problem with unwarranted urgency. You state: “…the density of pelagic plastic has doubled since 2005.” This is the kind of statement that is widely used to camouflage fuzzy data. Mind you, I’m NOT saying you are doing this, but this isn’t substantive information. If there was one acre of trash in 2005 and not there is two acres (a doubling), it’s a non problem. If there were twenty thousand acres in 2005, and that has doubled – that strikes me as more noteworthy. But when compared to the vast expanse of the world’s oceans, is even that a “problem” with urgent considerations?"

And now, a response from Marcus:

Dear Robert G. Williscroft, PhD

It seems you misunderstood my point about the urgency to address the plastic marine debris issue. If you “do not see quantitative information to sink your teeth into,” as you state, may I request again that you visit our website for references to the work of our scientists and others. Or browse any university library and scroll through the Marine Pollution Bulletin, or search the index catalog for names like C. Moore, A. Andrady, H. Takada, or R. Thompson. You will find substantial quantitative evidence to document all of our scientific claims. If your sincere interest is a scientific argument, then I strongly suggest you start there. At the end of this response, I have included a list of publications for your review.

From your response, I gather that scientific articles may not be sufficient. To this I have no response. The peer review process in scientific journals is the best available means to share data around the world, other than dragging every scientist into your lab to see physical phenomena with their own eyes. In the peer review process a proposed scientific study is anonymously criticized by other leading scientists in that field. Almost always, the first task is to point out errors in statistical measures or significance. You appear to doubt the statistical significance of our data, therefore, since you live in Southern California, I invite you to visit our lab in Redondo Beach. You will be given a personal tour so that you can see the physical phenomena with your own eyes.

The occurrence of plastic marine debris throughout the North Pacific Ocean is well documented, as are the hundreds of species found with plastic marine debris in or around their bodies. The Algalita Marine Research Foundation has found significant concentrations of DDT, PCBs and PAHs sorbed onto plastic marine debris. Other studies show that the compounds migrate from ingested plastic into the bodies of some organisms. In other research it is well documented that these man-made synthetic chemicals are carcinogenic, endocrine disruptors, and can be attributed to other ailments found in wildlife and humans. There is also wide evidence that man-made synthetic chemicals are bioaccumulating and biomagnifying up the food chain. As I said in my earlier response, the current scientific question is, “Are persistent organic pollutants consumed by marine organisms bioaccumulating up the food chain and into the fisheries that we harvest?”

Admittedly, the causal links from plastic trash in our storm drains, to marine debris, to wildlife contamination and human health concerns, is a difficult chain to connect. Yet, this logical circle is fearfully coming to fruition. Add to this the exponential growth of plastic trash accumulating in the world’s oceans. The plastics industry reported U.S. production of 120 billion pounds of plastic annually, representing a 100% increase in 15 years. This parallels the growth of plastic trash found in the North Pacific Gyre. In 2003 the California Integrated Waste Management Board reported that 25% of plastic produced could not be accounted for through recycling programs, durable goods, or landfills. We are seeing that missing plastic waste accumulating in our oceans. A burgeoning sense of urgency is the meeting of these two roads: our throwaway society, and long-term human health. But, this is not a scientific argument. It is a moral one.

To say that you need to see the effect before you address the cause is unwise considering the global impact of plastic marine debris, especially when all the causal links are illuminating long-term human health concerns. If prosperity, longevity and security of human populations worldwide are tantamount, then employ the precautionary principle.

“There is evidence for adverse health effects in animals, significant human exposure, and safer alternatives are readily available, therefore, until proven otherwise, plastic marine debris and the associated sorbed toxins and pre-production plasticers should be assumed to impact human health. Scientific certainty is not required prior to taking regulatory action.”

If your fear is economics, as you eluded to in your initial reply, then I suggest alternatives to petroleum-based plastics and our throwaway society that are healthy for the environment, our bodies and the marketplace. While much of the developed world embraces a cultural shift to the Sustainable Century, the United States resists departing the Synthetic Century. I would rather see our nation lead rather than lag behind. Markets in alternatives to disposable plastics, like stainless steel water bottles and coffee mugs, and cloth grocery bags, are soaring. To show good faith, when I return to Los Angeles I’ll send you a reusable water bottle. In fact, you can have one of the 100 stainless steel ones we have on JUNK as a souvenir.

Meanwhile, here’s a list of references.

EVIDENCE OF PLASTIC IN THE OCEAN
Robards, M. D.; Gould, P. J.; Piatt, J. F. The highest global concentrations and increased abundance of oceanic plastic debris in the North Pacific: Evidence from seabirds. In Marine Debris; Coe, J. M.; Rogers, D. B., Eds.; Springer: Berlin, 1997.
Reddy, M. S.; Basha, S.; Adimurthy, S.; Ramachandraiah, G. Description of the plastics fragments in marine sediments along the Alang-Sosiya ship-breaking yard, India. Estuarine, Coastal Shelf Sci. 2006, 68, 656-660.
Carpenter, E. J.; Anderson, S. J.; Harvey, G. R.; Miklas, H. P.; Peck, B. B. Polystyrene spherules in coastal water. Science (Washington, DC, U.S.) 1972, 178, 749-750.
Ng, K. L.; Obbard, J. P. Prevalence of microplastics in Singapore’s coastal marine environment. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 2006, 52, 761- 767.
Gregory, M. R. Plastic “scrubbers” in hand cleansers: A further (and minor) source for marine pollution identified. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 1996, 32, 867-871.
George, G. A. Weathering of polymers. Mater. Forum 1995, 19, 145-161.
Wurl, O.; Obbard, J. P. A review of pollutants in the sea-surface microlayer (SML): A unique habitat for marine microorganisms. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 2004, 48, 1016-1030.

EVIDENCE OF PERSISTENT ORGANIC POLLUTANTS ON PLASTIC
Thompson, R. C., Teuten, E., Rowland, S. J., Galloway, T. Potential for Plastics to Transport Hydrophobic Contaminants. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2007, 41, 7759-7764.
Rios, L. M.; Moore, C.; Jones, P. R. Persistent organic pollutants carried by synthetic polymers in the ocean environment. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 2007, 54, 1230-1237.
Mato, Y.; Isobe, T.; Takada, H.; Kanehiro, H.; Ohtake, C.; Kaminuma, T. Plastic resin pellets as a transport medium for toxic chemicals in the marine environment. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2001, 35, 308-324.
Ye, S.; Andrady, A. L. Fouling of floating plastic debris under Biscayne Bay exposure conditions. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 1991, 22, 608-613.
Brunauer, S.; Emmett, P. H.; Teller, E. Adsorption of gases in multimolecular layers. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1938, 60, 309-319.
Hardy, J. T.; Crecelius, E. A.; Antrim, L. D.; Keiesser, S. L.; Broadhurst, V. L.; Boehm, P. D.; Steinhauer, W. G.; Coogan, T. H. Aquatic surface microlayer contamination in Chesapeake Bay. Mar. Chem. 1990, 28, 333-351.
Pascall, M. A.; Zabik, M. A.; Zabik, M. J.; Hernandez, R. J. Uptake of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from an aqueous medium by polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, and polystyrene films. J. Agric. Food Chem. 2005, 53, 164-169.

EVIDENCE OF PLASTIC IN OR AROUND THE BODIES OF MARINE ORGANISMS
Derraik, J. G. B. The pollution of the marine environment by plastic debris: A review. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 2002, 44, 842-852.
Laist, D. W. Impacts of marine debris: Entanglement of marine life in debris including a comprehensive list of species with entanglement and ingestion records. In Marine Debris; Coe, J. M.; Rogers, D. B., Eds.; Springer: Berlin, 1997.
Fry, D. M.; Fefer, S. I.; Sileo, L. Ingestion of plastic by laysan albatrosses and wedge-tailed shearwaters in the Hawaiian Islands. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 1987, 18, 339-343.
Eriksson, C.; Burton, H. Origins and biological accumulation of small plastic particles in fur seals from Macquire Island. Ambio 2003 32, 380-384.

EVIDENCE OF PERSISTENT ORGANIC POLLUTANTS IN MARINE ORGANISMS
Ryan, P. G.; Connell, A. D.; Gardener, B. D. Plastic ingestion and PCBs in seabirds: Is there a relationship? Mar. Pollut. Bull. 1988, 19, 174-176.
Thompson, R. C.; Olsen, Y.; Mitchell, R. P.; Davis, A.; Rowland, S. J.; John, A. W. G.; McGonigle, D.; Russell, A. Lost at sea: Where is all the plastic? Science (Washington, DC, U.S.) 2004, 304, 838.
Voparil, I. M.; Mayer, L. A. Dissolution of sedimentary polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons into the lugworm’s (Arenicola marina) digestive fluids. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2000, 34, 1221-1228.
Voparil, I. M.; Mayer, L. A. Commercially available chemicals that mimic a deposit feeder’s (Arenicola marina) digestive solubilization of lipids. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2004, 38, 4334- 4339.
Lu, X.; Reible, D. D.; Fleeger, J. W. Relative importance of ingested sediment versus pore water as uptake routes for PAHs to the deposit-feeding oligochaete Ilyodrilus templetoni. Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 2004, 47, 207-214.
Weston, D. P.; Penry, D. L.; Gulmann, L. K. The role of ingestion as a route of contaminant bioaccumulation in a deposit-feeding polychaete. Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 2000, 38, 446- 454.
Timmermann, K.; Anderson, O. Bioavailability of pyrene to the deposit-feeding polychaete Arenicola marina: Importance of sediment versus water uptake routes. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 2003, 246, 163-172.
Lamoureux, E. M.; Brownawell, B. J. Chemical and biological availability of sediment-sorbed hydrophobic organic contaminants. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 1999, 18, 1733-1741.

Finally, a response from Tamara Adkins, Doctoral Candidate from Antioch University:

I appreciate the attention Dr. Robert G. Williscroft has given to the voyage of the Junk. I was curious to know more about him, and scanned his resume and list of publications online. His impressive credentials include supervising the National Science Foundation Atmospheric Research Program at the South Pole, Given his expertise, I would expect an evidence-based rebuttal to the messages to which Dr Eriksen is bringing our attnetion. If he is aware of studies that would lead to us believe that plastic debris is not increasing in the ocean, or that it is not a threat to wildlife, I would be interested in seeing it.

As an endocrine disruption researcher, the weight of evidence certainly supports the toxicity of even very low doses of many of the monomers and additives found in common plastics (such as phthalates, bisphenol-A, styrene, vinyl chloride, organotin, lead, etc.). Adding these contaminants to the marine food chain does not seem wise. However, I subscribe to the precautionary principle -- the idea that if the risk of catastrophic harm is highly likely but not proven, it would make sense to delay action until further research results are compiled. (This, of course, assumes that not taking action is an option, and that it does not carry its own risks). I suspect, based on the reviews, of Dr Williscroft's book "Chicken Little,", that he does not subscribe to the precautionary principle. In his book, he "debunks" global warming and the hole in the ozone layer, as well as addressing unfounded fears about "terrorists, illegal immigrants, the Bird Flu, fuel dependency, food toxicity, antibiotic resistant bacteria". Mixing politics with science is familiar territory for Dr. Williscroft.

JUNK Jerk

2008-07-21T17:26:00.000-07:00

A few posts back, we heard about Marcus and Joel patiently stalking - and then stocking - some fresh Mahi Mahi. After eating their fill, they decorated JUNK with strings of Mahi Jerky, using every available seasoning....here's Marcus to tell you all about it.

And now, a few responses from Marcus and Joel to some recent blog comments:

Don Geagan and everyone,

Thanks you and everyone for your well wishes as we make our way across the Pacific. Everyday is a challenge. The first thing we do each morning is to make sure nothing is falling apart. This morning we patched a hole in one of the pontoons that had been sawing against a mast all night long. No bottles lost.
What makes all of this easier to deal with is the feedback from home. It would be a much different voyage without your support. We recognize that this project is a huge team effort. We've had amazing sponsorship from business and private donors. A steady stream of volunteers helped every day to construct the raft. Anna Cummins, our blogwriter, keeps us in the loop and maintains an awesome blog site. Captain Charles Moore, of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation, keeps us informed of storms and predicts our progress using current models. We just get to be the lucky sailors on the raft.
Thank you for your kind support. It means everything to us.

Sincerely,
Marcus and Joel

Bruce,

Sorry your wind generator is giving you trouble. Tell Jody to smear 3M-5200 over the wires, then drop it in the ocean, tangle some fishing line in it while it's spinning, then let a couple more wires catch fire in the cockpit. That ought to fix everything. It worked for us.

Cheers,
Marcus

Leah B.

We're landing in Alawai Harbor at the public dock if the winds and waves allow us to stay north of the 21st parallel. Please stay in touch with our blog. We'll have more details when we get closer.

Thanks for getting in touch.
Marcus

Guido and Van Buren make CNN

2008-07-20T21:43:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Glenn, Pam, and Josh, a wonderful JUNK clip on CNN. Experimental hair stages and all.....

Craving a departure from the daily routine, Marcus and Joel have fun with the razor. Meet Guido and Van Buren.

JUNK is currently zipping along, making 50 miles a day for the last few day. If there is such a thing as "at this rate", JUNK will make her mid-late August arrival in Honolulu.

Cyclone sailing

2008-07-18T00:23:00.000-07:00

July 18
The East trade winds are consistently blowing 15-20 knots, pushing us 40-45 miles per day. We’ve got the JUNK square sail flying for the first time. Hopefully it’s downwind all the way. There are still 30 degrees of longitude left to cross - 1800 miles. If we can maintain 300 miles a week, we’ll get there by the end of August. To put it into perspective, that’s driving from Los Angeles to New Orleans at two miles per hour for the next six weeks. Martigras anyone?

We’re getting some wind from the cyclones down below. A plus for us: were in the cold water, where cyclones die. We’re riding the 23rd parallel, where the water is around 65 degrees. Down south, below 20 degrees latitude, temperatures rise to 80, perfect bath water for a cyclone.

Right now the seas are 6-8 feet, with sporadic white caps that spill over the deck of JUNK. All of our fish jerky is hanging in the cabin to dry above Joel’s head. We’re both only pages away from finishing Don Quixote. When we get bored we pump the watermaker, adjust the sails, grab a few almonds for a snack, and gaze at the coming waves.

Go fish, come wind!

2008-07-15T20:35:00.001-07:00

July 15th

For 5 weeks we’ve clawed our way from the coastal wind and currents of North America, to find ourselves completely becalmed. For three days we made a figure 8 track within a 10 x 10 mile box northwest of 23N lattitude and 123W longitude. Go figure. No.. go fish! Here's a clip of our recent Mahi adventures, esp. for those inquiring about our nutrition situation:

We hadn't seen any fish for two weeks, but sit still for a few days and somethings bound to show up. Each day we saw a Mahi Mahi appear, and each day we caught and ate it. Sashimi, broiled fillet, coconut curry, and with the 3rd and final catch, I made jerky. We’ve got enough fish jerky hanging in the cabin to feed us for two months, and it’s rather aromatic too.

But fortunately those becalmed days are gone. Two days ago Joel was swimming across the mirror-like surface of the water. Suddenly a puff of wind blew across the deck. “Hey Joel,” I yelled. “Looks like we got some wind.” Quickly the mizzen sail spun around and the ocean surface grew ripples. “I guess I ought to come back,” Joel replied. We raised the spinnaker and headed due west. We haven’t stopped. In 48 hours we’ve traveled more than 90 miles. We’re in the East Tradewinds! Only 1850 miles to Hawaii. Stay with us.

Synthetic Sea: a reminder of why were doing this

2008-07-14T13:25:00.001-07:00

JUNK is currently gliding west, stocked with fresh Mahi Mahi, deck covered with fish jerky drying in the briny breeze, riding high on a few newly fashioned pontoon-ettes.

While we wait for a detailed update, heres an excellent reminder of why we are doing this. Watch this short version of "Synthetic Sea", Algalita's signature documentary on plastics pollution in our ocean. This is the film that first put Algalita's research on the map.

Seeing this film in 2002 lead to my own lifelong fascination with plastics pollution, and ensuing involvement with Algalita. It would be difficult to watch this and NOT feel that this is an issue that warrants more attention, understanding, and action.

Are we starving? Hell no!

2008-07-11T12:05:00.000-07:00

And we're finally catching some fish!

Seeing the recent posts about running out of cabbage and cheese, and dwindling canned veggies, some have expressed concern about JUNK's food situation. FEAR NOT! Our sailors have been rationing their remaining perishables, but haven't begun to touch their dried goods - a good 2 months worth, thanks to generous sponsorships from Whole Foods Market and Kashi. The full breakdown follows for those interested - this doesn't include the emergency MRE's Marcus stashed in the pontoons, nor the fish that they are beginning to catch, like last nights Mahi Mahi! Here's the story of Joel's determined mission to land some sashimi...
MAHI MAHI!!!!

The morning sun brought another day of calm seas and less than 5 knots of wind. Breakfast consisted of 8 slices of salami followed by a chunk of cheddar cheese. We’re consuming perishables first. For lunch we turned this around and actually ate the cheddar cheese first, followed by salami.

“Hey Joel. How’s the cabbage doin?” I asked.
“Yeah, we’ve got to peel a few leaves today,” he replied.

Throughout the day we occupy our time independently on various personal projects. Joel worked the Frankensail a bit more. I tied a couple 2x4s under a spot where the deck was tearing into one of the pontoons. By the time 5pm rolls around one of us, usually me, asks, “So, what are we eating today?”
Cabbage. Dinner will be cabbage with pesto sauce. We could of course delve into our rations in buckets, but we’re not sure how much longer we’ll be here. We originally considered this to be a six-week voyage. It’s not the sixth week and there are at least six more to go. We’ve agreed that it’s better to be disciplined now rather than hungry later.
Joel whipped up a mean cabbage salad with pesto and a little bleu cheese. I settled into the cockpit with my bowl. Joel was still outside stalking.
Hours ago he spied a fish. It was our first fish sighting in two weeks. Interestingly, we had just called Don McFarland moments earlier. Don and three others rafted to Hawaii in 1958. This was our first call to him while at sea.

“You guys seeing any fish?” Don asked.
“Not a single one,” I replied.
“That’s strange. We had fish almost every day. How about barnacles?” He was referring to the Gooseneck Barnacle that attaches to marine debris. “You can pull those off and suck the juice out of them.” We had done that months ago when we joined Captain Charles Moore studying plastic in the North Pacific Gyre. Charlie made a barnacle rice dish with the broth. It wasn’t half bad.
“No Don, no barnacle eating yet,” I replied. An hour later Joel was dancing across the deck.

“MAHI MAHI,” he yelled. For the next few hours he stalked the fish around the deck, fishing lure in one hand, spear gun in the other. Mahi Mahi are curious fish and will chase anything bouncing across the surface. After hours of trying, Joel took a seat in the cockpit and began slicing cabbage.
I was eating my bowl of cabbage when Joel exclaimed, “You’ve got to see this.” The fish was almost stationary under the starboard bow, with only his head out of view. It was as if the fish was thinking, “If I can’t see them, they can’t see me.” But in this case, half its body was exposed less than two feet below the surface.
I ran back for my camera. Joel cocked the spear gun. “Swoosh!” the spear penetrated the fish, sending it wriggling across the surface.
“We’ve got to get it in,” I yelled, as I yanked the fish onto the bow netting. Joel, cautious of the spear from the gun, lunged onto the fish, grabbing the end of the spear to hold it down. I ran back for my makeshift spear, the one made from a piece of aluminum boat railing, and ended the ordeal.
“I wanna eat it,” Joel said with determination.
“Sashimi or steak?” I asked.
While I cleaned the fish, chef Joel sautéed a bit of garlic, ginger and lemon with two tablespoons of butter. It took half an hour for me to fully clean the fish, stripping skin from meat, meat from bone. I hung 10 pieces for jerky. The pot was overflowing with fresh fish. The skeleton was also hung from the railing of the raft. We’ll pick on that later once it dries.
By 9:00 pm we were enjoying our first taste of fish in weeks. We will eat like kings for a couple of days. What we can’t eat will be dried in the sun. What we couldn’t pull off the bones will be used as bait. Nothing is wasted. This gift from the sea is a blessing.
Thank you Don for wishing us fish.

And now a rough inventory of our supplies:
Perishables: 4 lbs cheddar cheese, 10 lemons and limes, three cabbages, 2 bags of salami and pesto sauce, and bleu cheese.
Dried goods: 23 bags of Kashi cereal, 10 lbs. rice, 4 lbs. nuts, 4 boxes granola, 2 boxes granola bars, 30 protein bars, 8 jars Peanut butter, 5 packs beef jerky (and fish jerky in the making), 4 boxes red beans and rice, 1 bag cookies, 10 boxes mac and cheese, 11 assorted dehydrated entrees, 27 Tasty Bite dinners, 3 lbs dried beans, large bags of dried apples and pineapples, 5 lbs dried soup, 5 jars pwd. Milk.
Other: 3 jars honey, 1 large jar strawberry jam, 10 cans veggies, 1 bucket of M+Ms, large bottle olive oil, and 7 MREs.

And more fish we hope.

Junk PSA #3: Plastic particles as toxic sponges

2008-07-11T09:51:00.001-07:00

Continued thanks to our communication sponsors, Long Beach Marine Electronics, OCENS Inc., and Explorer Satellite for making video, blog, and phone communications possible - critical elements to this project.

In PSA #3, Marcus discusses how plastic particles absorb Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), becoming little toxic pills. What impact does these have on the creatures that ingest plastic debris?

Addressing the concerns of a skeptic

2008-07-10T10:56:00.000-07:00

A while back, we received this comment from Robert Williscroft, author of “The Chicken Little Agenda”. We’re posting his comment and responses here.

"You speak of "urgent action," but you have not really defined the problem. In the first place, "urgent action" should be reserved for "urgent problems," like an imminent hurricane or a flood crest moving down a river. I'm not saying plastic trash in the ocean isn't a problem – I simply don't know enough about it to evaluate the problem, and I suspect neither do you. It seems to me that your energy would be more productive applied to a thorough study of the "problem," to determine if it really is potentially serious. If it turns out to be something we need to be concerned about, then we have plenty of time to devise an appropriate solution without taking draconian steps that will impact our economy and the livelihoods of millions of people.

I detect in your comments more than a little political bias, and I suspect that your efforts are at least as much directed at political grandstanding as they are toward solving the plastic-junk-at-sea problem."

And now a few responses here:
A thorough study of the problem is precisely what Captain Charles Moore and the Algalita Marine Research Foundation have been doing since 1997, concluding that yes, it is a serious issue. And unfortunately, as we take our time devising “appropriate solutions”, the problem only continues to worsen. We need to adopt a precautionary principle, before implementing solutions becomes too late.
In addition to the impacts on marine ecosystems and human health, the plastic debris issue is a warning signal that our rampant consumerism and disregard for resources cannot continue unabated.

Here’s a response from Marcus:

Dear Robert G. Williscroft, PhD,

Let me clarify “urgent action” beginning with a story. During the summer of 2002 I was backpacking through Tanzania when news of a train wreck made headlines. In Dar es Salaam a passenger train lost connection to the engine while in the station and began sliding backwards. People on the train, mostly families leaving the city for their villages west, did not get the urgency of the moment. You could walk as fast as the train was rolling. The workers and engineers frantically tried to set brakes on the 20+ cars slowly rolling downhill. Those who studied the train mechanics and knew the regional geography could predict the future. They understood “urgent action”. The passengers did not until several hours and 60 miles later, when the train sped over 100 mph backwards, derailed, killing more than 200 people.

On our blog site there are many references to our organization, the Algalita Marine Research Foundation. I urge you to visit site and read our peer-reviewed science articles describing the problem. In summary, after 6 expeditions to the North Pacific Gyre, we’ve discovered steadily increasing concentrations of plastic debris. Earlier this year Anna, Joel and I, founders of the JUNK project, joined Captain Charles Moore aboard the ORV Alguita for another expedition. Having yet to quantify the new samples, conservatively it appears the density of pelagic plastic has doubled since 2005.
You will also find another article, published in a peer reviewed scientific journal, about persistent organic pollutants (POPs) that absorb and adsorb onto plastic marine debris. We found high concentrations of PCBs, PAHs and pesticides on plastic floating in the North Pacific Gyre.
If you conduct a simple literature review, you will find other articles pointing to the many organisms that consume plastic marine debris. A meta-analysis of current literature found 267 species have been documented with plastic marine debris in or around their bodies. This includes 44% of all seabirds, 22 cetaceans, all marine turtles and countless fish. Our 2008 expedition revealed plastic particles in a quarter of the myctophid fish caught in our sampling nets. And in many cases, we are finding that those POPs are migrating from ingested plastic marine debris into to organisms that consume it.

Science has shown that plastic is rapidly accumulating in the world’s oceans. That plastic sorbs toxins, many of which are known human carcinogens, many organisms eat plastic. The scientific question that we are addressing now is, “Are persistent organic pollutants consumed by organisms bio-accumulating up the food chain and into the fisheries that we harvest?”
The environmental issue is apparent to the scientific community. The human health issue is becoming clear as good science gets presented, argued and published appropriately. What we see as a runaway train, requiring “Urgent Action” understandably falls on deaf ears to those not aware of the issue. Data determines urgency.

Again, I urge you to review the science behind the issue. I would enjoy a conversation about solutions, and request, as you suggest, keeping political grandstanding to other blogs.

Sincerely,

Marcus Eriksen, PhD
Director of Research and Education
Algalita Marine Research Foundation
Navigator of JUNK

Squid Lock

2008-07-09T22:30:00.000-07:00

July 9, 2008 Another day of relative calm, but not becalmed. There is wind, but barely enough to keep the sails full. Joel took the opportunity to work on his Frankensail. I dove below the raft to install five more mini-pontoons. First I needed to bring in the fishing line. As I reeled it in I saw a short slender object hanging to the hook. It seems that at some point hours earlier we snagged a giant squid. I inspected the tentacle a bit closer and to my amazement found little teeth surrounding the periphery of the suction cup. I guess it’s not just suction they use to hang on to their prey....you can check out the squid bit - now bait - here:

In a couple of hours we finished our work. The starboard side was sitting another 4 inches out of the water and the Frankensail was flying again. I looked overboard to inspect my work and saw two sardine-size fish coming to JUNK. I haven’t seen fish in a week. Hopefully some large and tasty ones will follow. We finished the day with a meal of onion soup, pepperoni on crackers, and a hefty chunk of cheddar cheese. Joel, the resident chef, has this to say about our culinary horizon:
Our mouths water thinking about the early days of the voyage when we had to eat as much perishable food as possible - bacon, lox and filet mignon....now with only one can of beans left (I cracked the delabeled can code) we’re adjusting to a new reduced diet.

Cabbage is the last veggie to go bad. We’ve been eating cabbage salad every day for 2 weeks – with oil or pesto sauce, chopped onion, blue cheese, and black pepper. All things said and done, not bad. When the last of our cabbage, and our remaining 6 bls of cheese go, were going to play the following food game:

We'll agree on an identical amount of food and eat only this for 6 days. Who ever doesn't drop out or has the most left at the end wins bragging rights. On the 7th day we feast! Not only will it help stretch our stores, it should be entertaining, at least for us. And if we catch a fish all bets are off. Anyone else want to play?

Coming up: JUNK video PSA #3: Plastic particles as toxic sponges

Mile countdown and tainted cans

2008-07-08T05:52:00.000-07:00

July 8, 2008
Tonight we’re gonna party like it’s 1999! At 4:20pm we passed the 2000-mile mark at roughly 24N latitude, 122W longitude. It’s a HUGE landmark in our journey and mental stamina. To celebrate we’re going to dice one of the few remaining cabbage cores (we peel off wilting leaves daily, leaving potato-size, white, bitter cores) and add a bit of pesto sauce. The strips of cabbage look like pasta, and the more we mumble words like “bowtie, penne, linguini” while we eat it, the more we think it is. For our main course, carrot soup with a can of vegetable medley mixed in. Joel has become an expert at identifying the contents of de-labeled cans based on the faint serial numbers printed on top.

Speaking of cans: Have you read Our Stolen Future by chance? The authors describe in fascinating detail, the impact of synthetic chemicals on our lives, including that thin plastic film lining the inside of metal cans, like the ones we’re eating from. Most of the canned veggies on American grocer shelves are lined with Bisphenol-A, the building block of polycarbonate plastic. It keeps the metal from degrading and prevents that metallic taste liquid can quickly absorb. What’s interesting about Bisphenol-A is the ability of this manmade compound to mimic estrogen.
Bisphenol-A has been found to leach into surrounding liquids at room temperature and remain bioactive, even after consumption. Scientific studies have linked Bisphenol-A to tumors in mammary glands and the male prostate, insulin resistance, and endocrine disruption, resulting in the disruption of sexual development of males and females invitro. What’s startling is that it only takes a few parts per billion during critical windows of development to cause lifelong effects. The last thing you want is a little Bisphenol-A, and it’s estrogenic properties, swirling around your male fetus when he’s trying to develop testicles...

Back to our voyage.

We’re going more west than south now. We average a bearing of 240 degrees, with a range of 10 degrees either side. Two months of this, hopefully less, and we’ll be eating poke and fresh pineapple, sans can.

FRANKENSAIL

2008-07-06T20:35:00.001-07:00

To pick up the pace and take full advantage of the winds, Joel created.....FRANKENSAIL. Beautiful she is not, however FRANKENSAIL added a knot of speed to JUNK's progress. Function beats form by a long shot in this situation.

4th of July fiesta - beans and reusables!

2008-07-03T14:32:00.000-07:00

A few posts back, Marcus mentioned a food inventory, and suggested that some belt tightening might be in order. Not sure I believe him after seeing this photo.....

JUNK has some big 4th of July plans, including BEANS, cabbage flowers, and reusables. Sounds like a blast, anyone want to join?

"We will celebrate with beans. Maybe a chunk of cheddar mixed in. To tide us over till the big feast, I tore leaves off one of our few remaining heads of cabbage for an afternoon snack. I noticed something strange in the middle – a flower. I’ve never seen one before in cabbage - reminds us of terrestrial life....

As you plan for your picnic, we suggest reusables at the table. Things like real silverware, plates and napkins. The throwaway disposable stuff never goes “away” - we’re finding it here in the ocean. Two days ago I watched a bottle cap float by. Perhaps long ago, on some past 4th of July, someone dropped that bottle cap. Years and miles later, it’s here.

Coming up: How Joel's new FRANKENSAIL helps JUNK pick up a knot of speed.

Kudos from AMRF Board members

2008-07-02T17:09:00.000-07:00

The Board members of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation would like to acknowledge the tremendous achievements of Dr. Marcus Eriksen and Joel Paschal, now one month into their journey across the Pacific Ocean on JUNK.

This ambitious mission to bring Algalita’s research on plastic debris to a wider audience has already been a success, as evidenced by coverage in numerous media channels – most recently a wonderful piece in the LA Times.

For the past ten years, Algalita has been leading the charge to research, quantify, and communicate the ecological impacts of plastic pollution on the marine environment. We are now working to expand our research to identify the manner in which plastic impacts our marine environment with greater specificity.

The Board is pleased to see that the JUNK expedition is bringing public attention to our research findings -- effective communication is key to our foundation’s success. Joel and Marcus, we stand behind your inspiring efforts with pride, and send you our best wishes for a safe and speedy return.

Sincerely,

AMRF Board of Directors.

One month milestone: knot for naught

2008-07-01T22:49:00.000-07:00

“One month ago right now....” is how we’ve begun several conversations today. This morning one month ago I awoke in a bed. This afternoon one month ago we spoke to an audience of at least 300 people bidding JUNK farewell. Though we guessed 6 weeks at sea, looks like there are 8 more to go. We’ve accepted this reality, necessitating that we plan well. Nothing like some long hours at sea for divine inspiration....

We’ve been sailing South-Southwest 190 degrees at .7 knots. We want to go west, in the direction the wind is coming from, the direction of Hawaii. Yesterday we took a section of mast from the deck, lashed it to a spare rudder, and vertically plunged it 4 feet below the boat. This makeshift dagger board improved our progress to 200 degrees an 1.2 knots! This morning Joel finished fabricating a sail from scrap pieces, lots of string and duct tape. That improvement got us up to 215 degrees at 1.8 knots. We’re shaving off the miles and days from Hawaii. Now we’re sailing! But there are cyclones nearby.

Eastern Pacific Tropical Storms are hovering 200 miles south of us. We are hoping that their counterclockwise spin will give us the east wind we need raise our downwind sail. We’re anxious to see what downwind/downcurrent sailing feels like. How much faster will we be able to countdown the miles? As a crow flies, we are 2095 miles from Hawaii. That’s two months or less.

Then there’s food. We’ve done our inventory of food and figure that we can live on what we’ve got, provided we make another spear and get some fish. In the meantime we consume primarily our consumables. Tonight’s dinner we will share one can of beans with half and onion cubed on top. Several large chunks of cheddar cheese will float and melt in the middle of the bowl. Bon appetit!

Junk PSA #2: A Plastic Filled Ocean

2008-06-30T08:46:00.001-07:00

Straight from the source: Marcus with #2 out of 8 video PSAs: A Plastic Filled Ocean.

South by Southwest

2008-06-28T22:39:00.000-07:00

June 28th, Somewhere....southwest

In fact, the images below show more or less exactly where JUNK was 2 days ago, according to the NOAA tracking buoy on board.....

Our bearing is consistently between 190 and 210 degrees, at about 1knot of speed. Averaging 25-30 mile days, we are clawing our way away from North America. The wind and current want to send us to Panama, which wouldn’t be all that bad, but we have other plans. Maybe we should ask nicely.

A few days ago, on June 25th, we had a very close encounter off the coast of Guadalupe.

The morning breeze was sending us down the eastern side of the Island. Then at the southeastern point the wind died. A few minutes later, the wind quickly turned around and began blowing us toward the island. For the next 8 hours we performed a 4-mile diameter loop, returning to the same dreadful spot close to the jagged coastline. As dusk approached, we picked up speed and began rushing toward land. “This could be the end of JUNK!” we said, as we packed our dry bags with essential gear, like radios, GPS, satellite phones, sleeping bags and a handheld water-maker. The next few hours we sat on pins and needles watching the coastline come closer and the wind teasingly bend south. Eventually, we skirted south and picked up speed to two knots.

We asked for an adventure.....

We’re now three days beyond Guadalupe, heading South-southwest. The trade winds are ahead to pull us west, rather than the coastal current to pull us east. Either way, JUNK will sail for another month or two in an effort to bring plastic trash in the sea to a broader audience. Hope you’re enjoying the ride as much as we are.

Beans, corn, or peas?

2008-06-28T12:51:00.000-07:00

Its a good thing Joel's a creative chef...

Keeping the canned goods in a milk crate in a gap between the pontoons was perhaps a mistake. Waves ripped the labels right off! So now meal prep has become a guessing game. Seems the majority of them are: BEANS!

And more beans.....good thing they're starting to catch more fish! This morning a nice sized group of Mahi Mahi were following the boat, with Joel hanging over the edge trying hard to catch a non-bean protein source.

Heading for open water

2008-06-26T09:32:00.000-07:00

Often the coastal zones present the biggest challenges for sailors....so JUNK is thrilled to leave Guadalupe behind and head for open waters.

Here's Joel - on camera for the first time - with the JUNK video report:

Clearing Guadalupe, record speeds last night!

2008-06-25T09:24:00.000-07:00

June 25, 2008

We’ve just turned a new corner – the south point of Guadalupe Island. To celebrate, we're eating a sample from our first batch of fish jerky, washed down with a celebratory shot of Patron gifted by our friends at the Sundiver 2. The flying fish taste a bit better than the Catalina Island Blue Perch - much better fresh.

We'll be making lots of jerky from now on to supplement our dwindling cache - photo here shows our first batch, drying in the saline wind. All of our greens are gone, as expected. We’re down to our "mystery cans" (more about this later), dry goods, and lots of cheese. We’ve got four massive blocks of cheddar. Two are in a mesh bag floating in the cool ocean behind us.

Guadalupe Island is roughly 15 miles long and 4 miles wide. For the last 200 miles we’ve drifted practically due south toward it. Yesterday we were five miles and bearing down on the north point. “Which way do we go?” we asked each other. Going west meant faster traveling, but the risk of being pushed ashore was greater. Going east meant a safe trip, but unexpected wind and currents. We flipped a coin, “East it is!”

Steep slopes of brown sand and rubble cascade into deep blue water. The island’s tall mountains create an imposing silhouette against the setting sun. We give a 4-mile buffer between Guadalupe and JUNK. The wind shifts to the northwest, giving us the joy of downwind sailing and a record 2.9 knots. We will skirt around this island in no time. At 1:00am Joel wakes me up, “Can you give me a hand with this spinnaker?” There’s no wind. It fell from 2.5 to .3 in the blink of an eye. The mountain, even at 4 miles, blocks the 20 knots of wind we need. It would now be up to the current.

At .3 knots we would clear the island in a couple of days, as opposed to tomorrow morning as we'd hoped - another example of humility at sea. The ocean does what it wishes. We are largely along for the ride....

Soon, the wind picks up again, and we’re making south point a few hours after sun up. As land fades behind our stern, we look ahead to the next rock rising above the water. Where that is, we don’t really know.

JUNK PSA #1: The Age of Disposables is over

2008-06-22T22:30:00.001-07:00

JUNK's first PSA from Sea - the first in an 8 part series on the mission behind the mission.

Todays menu: Rudderfish

2008-06-22T10:04:00.001-07:00

June 22, 2008

We’re beginning to feel wind coming from the north. We can sail 90 degrees off of the wind and head west, just in time to hopefully scoot around Guadalupe Island 65 miles away. South from there we enter the tradewinds, where wind and currents are more predictable.

We’ve made the most of these last four days of sunny stagnation. Joel found a short circuit in the electronics. I made three more mini-pontoons and placed them under the raft. But yesterday morning we awoke to a fresh sight, FISH!

By noon three were flopping on deck. Joel whipped up a mean curry with coconut milk. I strung up a filet for drying. I’m sending a photo of the fish we caught. Can anyone tell us what it is? We’re calling it a Rudder Fish. Later in the day we spied two Flying Fish hanging out below, and a large mackerel darting at the sardine-like schools that mill about.

Joel and I are getting along well. We’ve settled into a pattern of sleep offset by 6 hours. He stays awake late, and I get up early. It works well so far. It’s now 8am so he’s sleeping and I’m typing. The sails are full, with wind on our beam. We’re heading southwest at the moment. Till next time.

A visit from the Coast Guard

2008-06-20T09:13:00.000-07:00

An update from JUNK: winds are just barely whispering, giving our sailors time to entertain visitors as they drift - including a very intrigued Coast Guard plane.

Some Northwest winds are expected to pick up in the next few days....music to our ears.
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June 21st
We left Los Angeles three weeks ago. We’re 300 miles away...2000 to go. At this moment our primary concern is clearing Guadalupe Island, 100 miles directly in front of us, due south, the direction of our drift. If we had wind we would sail west, but no wind and sunny skies makes for a slow paradise. Nothing to do...nowhere to go.

We dove under JUNK to inspect last week’s placement of mini-pontoons. All seems well – some expected shifting, and a host of new passengers. A school of palm-length fish hovered below me while I added two more pontoons, tied knots and cut loose ends. Topside, Joel repaired the stove. Later that day we had visitors.

Curious critters have paid their visits. First a fur seal swam by, indigenous to Guadalupe Island, they can venture 100 miles from land to hunt, or check out JUNK.

Two black-footed albatross gently swam for hours behind us. Every time we came close to the rail, they’d approach, stare and appear to be waiting for us to do something.

Nothing to do...nowhere to go.

Then the Coast Guard showed up.

The U. S. Coast Guard, flying low in a C-130, circled us several times, each time banking in tighter circles.

“Uhh, sailing vessel this is Coast Guard aircraft circling above you, over,” our radio cackled.

“This is JUNK,” I responded. Joel and I wore grins from ear to ear.

“We’ve never quite seen anything like your vessel. What’s it made of?” they asked. We gave them the laundry list of materials: Cessna 310 fuselage, 15,000 plastic bottles, 20 sailboat masts, and 5000 plastic bags woven into rope.

“Do you guys have a website or something?” another voice inquired. After a few moments of polite introductions, the Coast Guard began asking the standard questions for any vessel, about life jackets, radios, sail plans, emergency equipment.

“Before we go do you guys need anything?” they asked.

“How about a weather report?” I replied. Far south from where we are is the breeding ground for tropical storms. They rarely come our way to warmer waters, but sometimes a hurricane will bend toward Hawaii. They came back with no information worth worrying about. We should have asked for a pizza.

They bid us good luck, fair winds and following seas. Before circling one more time, they gave us a phone number to call in case of an emergency. Like 911 for the high seas. Soon our last visitor for the day was gone.

The moon rises, the sails hang like curtains, the sea is gentle. We hope for wind.

Video from JUNK: Ships log #2

2008-06-18T12:02:00.000-07:00

Our second video from JUNK. Marcus explains how they spot other boats, which "sometimes sneak up on you...."

Collision with an ocean liner ranks high on a list of boaters' worst nightmares. To avoid this, Ships carry an AIS receiver (Automatic Identification System)-- mandatory safety equipment that allows ships to communicate their location.

Marcus also tells us how JUNK's configuration helps ward off seasickness. A fantastic feature for our two sailors....

June 16, day 16

2008-06-16T22:27:00.000-07:00

We’ve cleared Bishop Rock, a subsurface mountain 100 miles west of Tijuana, Mexico, that barely reaches the surface. There’s one shipwreck there already. We don’t want to be the next. We snuck around it by a mile at 4:00am without much affair. Now we’re on to Guadalupe Island, 190 miles away.

“So, what’s our speed?” I ask Joel. He’s keen to check coarse and bearing every so often to measure progress.

“2 knots!” he exclaims. We’re making roughly 30 miles per day, which is better than expected considering the current and wind are not in agreement. The wind has been consistently coming out of the west, 90 degrees on our starboard beam.

In 1958 DeVere Baker and crew of three rafted across the Pacific aboard the Lehi IV in an attempt to show that Mormons could migrate across oceans, and were likely the original settlers of Polynesia. Though his theories didn’t win praise, he proved that the California/Hawaii route could be made on a long float. Don McFarland was one of the crew. He found us online and came to bid us farewell on June 1st.

“We had to deploy our pilot chute to avoid hitting Guadalupe Island,” he said, adding, “and bring an extra harpoon.” They fished, collected rainwater, and sat for 69 days to get from Redondo Beach to Hawaii. We hope we make it sooner.

©Peter Bennett/Ambient Images

From here it’s 650 miles south to get to the latitude of Honolulu, and 2000 miles on longitude. As a crow flies it 2100 miles. We can’t help going south. The current and wind have decided that. Our goal is to make the most of our sails. We keep beating west, hoping to make the curve into the tradewinds.
Then, with the wind at our stern, we should make good time.

Junk heading South!

2008-06-15T21:44:00.000-07:00

Two wonderful updates from JUNK:

They are making Southwesterly progress -- AND no one has lost their lunch yet.

8:00 pm June 15th: Junk has made its way to Bishop's Rock, an underwater peak near the infamous Cortes Bank, roughly 100 miles West of San Diego, and 40 miles Southwest of San Clemente.

Equally uplifting was the news that neither Marcus nor Joel had suffered any seasickness yet. On our last voyage, both were especially prone.....

Though the swells in the last few days have ranged from 4-8 feet (10-15 the week before), JUNK seems to float right on top of the waves, and somehow absorbs much of the potential heaving motion.

Here's Marcus working on an art project involving a spoon, while Joel sets one of the pontoons.

Their goal now is to make it far enough South, to catch the West-heading currents towards Hawaii. The arrows on this map show these Hawaii taxi currents - the arrows angling gently towards Hawaii, a few tiny dots far to the west....

Though the winds are blowing East, Marcus said Joel's sail configuration allowed them to push a bit West while heading South. Keep it up Joel!

Standby for words and images from JUNK tomorrow.

Junk Under Sail: Log #1

2008-06-13T23:08:00.001-07:00

First trip account from JUNK: Marcus and Joel coming to you live from the Pacific, on 15,000 plastic bottles.

Photos from mission Nalgene Bottle

2008-06-12T08:04:00.000-07:00

As promised, some images from Monday's bottle-sealing mission. All 8 of us worked steadily to get the job done, and now Junk is under sail, waiting for the winds to blow her West.

1: Sealing and bundling bottles:

2: Stringing Nalgene bundles into mini-pontoons:

3) Wrapping mini-pontoons in netting, and stitching tight w/ rope:

4: One by one, saddling pontoons w/ dive weights, sinking under JUNK, and lashing them to the raft - Ray and Kyaa survey the work done, and the work that remains:

And finally, bidding JUNK adieu yet again. She is currently caught in a tug of war - yesterday sailing 30 miles Southwest, and today getting pushed right back where she started. I hear Captain Moore's words loud and clear: "Sailboats don't have ETAs, they have destinations...."

We're Sailing!

2008-06-12T00:55:00.000-07:00

After a week of relentless storms, cold water repairs, and canned beans, we're thrilled to be underway!

Yesterday we rigged the jib and mizzen sails, slipped a few mini-pontoons in strategic spots under the raft to boost buoyancy, and spent a couple of hours getting JUNK’s junk stowed in buckets and bags.

We said goodbye to San Nicolas Island as we pulled anchor and drifted east. “Let’s get the spinnaker up,” Joel said, well aware of the kelp beds ahead and hundreds of sea lions and elephant seals barking less than a quarter-mile on the island’s shore. The current and wind were in opposite directions, making our net progress less than 1 knot. As we approached the southeast point of the island I could hear the crashing waves growing louder. Every time we turned away from the island, the sails lost wind. Suddenly, a north breeze from around the island swept us away, and soon we were heading south.

There are new challenges ahead. Cortez Bank is a shallow area directly south of our position, with Bishop rock jetting out of the water. The problem there is the breaking waves. Then further south is Guadalupe Island, with it’s jagged coastline. Currently we’re drifting in the direction of Ensenada, Mexico. At the moment we’re fine, just going where the wind and waves take us. The ocean is calm, and workable. It’s the hard stuff on the edges that get you.

Life on JUNK now changes. Joel and I take alternating 4hr. watches - 4 hours on, 4 hours off. While on watch, we monitor our radar screen and AIS (automated information system), which allow us to know who’s in the sea around us.

Joel is still doing most of the cooking. Our last storm 5 days ago, with 50 mph gusts and 8-10ft seas, wiped the labels off of all our cans, making dinner prep an Iron Chef affair - today’s mystery meal, garnered from three bare cans, was black beans, coconut milk, and corn.

The sun sets bright orange. We relax. We’re at sea going somewhere, and hopefully word is spreading about our little raft, and the mission to end the use of disposable plastics. If you have any questions, please send them our way, and check out Algalita to see what research we’re up to.

Junk has a visit from the Sundiver 2

2008-06-10T23:20:00.000-07:00

News from JUNK - late in posting, as I returned late last night from the mission below. Photos will follow tomorrow, but story here lest anyone worry about the quiet blog.

After discovering the ocean-unscrewing-Nalgene effect, Marcus and Joel decided to seal all 1,000 bottles tight, and then refashion them into 18 mini-pontoons before heading to sea. We thought we'd save them a week of work, and join them for a bottle sealing/pontoon-making work party.

So with the incredible help of Ray and Kyaa from Sundiver 2, 6 of us headed out to Junk 3:00 a.m Monday morning. Thanks to the very speedy Sundiver, we arrived at daybreak. On board: Nicole Chatterson, Jeffrey Ernst, Duane Laursen and myself from Algalita, and Josh Steiner and Bryan Lui from Ocean Detox. All were ready to roll up their sleeves and get salty.

-----------------------------------

From Marcus:
From Dawn till dusk, we worked our hands to the bones. Joel and I were so incredibly grateful for the extra hands - this saved us a ton of time, and we're anxious to get going. We saw some more strange things - in one, a bottle had been unscrewed, a smaller bottle cap drifted inside of it, then the sea screwed that cap back on.

With a half hour to spare before dark, the job was done. JUNK is more buoyant than ever, and ready to sail. As the sun began to set, the team boarded the Sundiver leaving Joel and I alone on JUNK, like they did 6 days ago. Anna and I held hands until the boats pulled us apart.

The Sea's sense of humor

2008-06-08T07:59:00.000-07:00

New words from Junk, illustrated by this very exciting action photo of Marcus typing.

Day 6. The winds are beginning to subside, and should clear enough mid week for Junk to forge ahead. Granted, the sea has a mind of its own - with all due respect.

Here's one we didn't predict: the recent stormy seas have been twisting the caps off our Nalgene bottles only, while the other plastic bottles hold perfectly tight.

According to Marcus:
The sea is a master of twisting the caps off of bottles. We have 1000 polycarbonate sports bottles. I can count dozens with loose lids, still attached by their plastic O-ring. We even pulled out two bottles, where the sea twisted both caps off and put one cap on the other bottle! The sea also has a sense of humor. We have a new plan.

The plan: sealing the Nalgene caps with a rock solid cement glue. Tedious, tiring work - here's Joel counting bottle caps in his sleep - but at least gives our captains something to do in the meantime.

Junk's bottle cap issue certainly pales in comparison to the large water bottle crisis outlined in this USA Today article, an excerpt here:

"Plastic water bottles produced for U.S. consumption take 1.5 million barrels of oil per year, according to a 2007 resolution passed by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. That much energy could power 250,000 homes or fuel 100,000 cars for a year, according to the resolution.

Cornell University professor and environmentalist Doug James said the irony of bottled water is that it's marketed as clean and healthy when its production contributes to unnecessary environmental degradation.

"Fiji water, for example," he said. "A one-liter bottle is taken out of the aquifer of this little island, and shipped all the way across the world, producing like half a pound of greenhouse gases so you can have this one-liter bottle of water."

A reminder of exactly why we are doing this project.

First photos from sea!

2008-06-07T06:54:00.000-07:00

We just received our first email from JUNK - proof that our solar powered, satellite phone system works! Even amidst continued stormy weather...

Marcus recounts:
Last night JUNK was hit with the worst storm yet, 50-60 mph gusts slapped at JUNK while at anchor near San Nicholas but all the raft did was bob up and down. Still, we've got work to do."

Someone asked about communications from sea: Marcus and Joel have an Iridium phone which allows them to call, email, and send low resolution photos like the ones here. Huge thanks to our communications sponsors Explorer Satellite and OCENS Inc for this - would be a very long 6 weeks without....They also have two broadband radios. And a friendly seal who seems to want to climb on board just offered to deliver short messages back to the mainland.

Getting back to work without an espresso maker on board, brutal....

Lightening the load in San Nicolas

2008-06-06T10:43:00.000-07:00

Things that came home from San Nicolas: books, bangles, beer, and even a bunny.

After a night at San Nicholas Island Marcus and Joel finally got the chance to survey the excessive number of last minute items friends donated at the departure.

The pronouncement: Junk needed to lose some weight.

Turns out a lot of the well intended gifts exceeded the bare necessities criteria. So they offloaded a number of things onto our friend Jody's boat, including some books that would never get read, a cooler full of cheese and ice, a bunch of knick knacks, a twelve pack of beer a jovial friend had offered up at the last minute, an electric tea set, and even Joel's pet bunny which he had innocently brought along without thinking through the extent to which the high seas might not be bunny-friendly.

The net result is a leaner, cleaner and tighter ship, ready for the high seas.

Day 4: waiting out the storm

2008-06-05T08:02:00.000-07:00

Now that our blogger is back on land, regular updates on Junk's progress on the way. Our two sailors are currently anchored off San Nicolas Island, waiting for the storm to pass, and to hitch a ride on the next south-blowing winds.

After our good byes in Long Beach:

©Peter Bennett/Ambient Images

first order of business was making room for 4 adults in a TIGHT space crammed with 6 weeks worth of supplies. For the first few days, Junk would have two extra crew mates - Nicole Chatterson (Algalita's office assistant) and myself. To give an idea of the cabin size:

Here's Marcus, with a fraction of the stuff we packed in there.

©Peter Bennett/Ambient Images

It was a human jig saw puzzle, w/ some very stiff necks and backs the next morning...

Day 2 of the tow brought our first technical challenges. Both Marcus and Joel had been very concerned about the pressure towing Junk would place on the raft. Designed to float along gently at 1-2 knots, being dragged through waves and wind at higher speeeds would test her limits.

After a sleepless night of slamming along to the tune of Junk's unusual crunching/squeaking noises, we woke to find a small rip in one of the front pontoons, with bottles leaking out onto our deck. For immediate repairs, Marcus dove under the boat to sew the rip, while Joel stitched from above, and crew shoved bottles back into the net.

©Peter Bennett/Ambient Images

The force of the tow tore a small hole through the netting, which Marcus and Joel repaired at sea. This sort of pressure was strictly a function of the tow, and may be the most stress Junk undergoes in the entire 6 weeks.

We arrived intact at San Nicolas Island, and managed to bring Junk crew over to the tow boat for a final hot meal and shower.

Which required shuttling them in a small dingy, amongst sizable swells and approaching gale force winds, a bit hair raising.

All went fine, until the motor fell off the dingy on Joel's return ride, leaving Jeff bobbing about in the pitch black - storm on the horizon. Being a resourceful young man, he hauled the motor on board by the fuel line, and signaled us with his flashlight for a rescue. Marcus then had to leap from Alguita's stern over to Junk - all in all, a dramatic send off.....

Junk Raft Departing for Hawaii

2008-06-04T15:10:00.001-07:00

Junk Underway!

2008-06-04T13:14:00.000-07:00

Amidst tremendous energy from a cheering throng, Junk set sail Sunday for Hawaii. We couldn't have asked for a more perfect send off - a wonderful crowd of friends, supporters, and media showed up to wish the journey well.

©Peter Bennett/Ambient Images

©Peter Bennett/Ambient Images

After a somewhat eventfull, mildly dramatic tow to San Nicolas, we left Marcus and Joel last night, anchored down by the Island to wait out some wicked winds. Details and photos to follow.

©Peter Bennett/Ambient Images

They were both in great spirits overall, having seen Junk weather her first major test, and eager to begin sailing solo. The adventure begins.

JUNK on Channel 7 news!

2008-05-30T11:11:00.001-07:00

During the program time for "Lost", JUNK aired on the 11:00 Channel 7 news! We hope being side by side w/ Lost wasn't some sort of commentary.....

10 safety questions for Dr. Marcus

2008-05-29T10:42:00.000-07:00

Anticipating the barrage of safety questions Marcus and Joel would get, our friend Randy Olson conducted this little interview, below. If you still have unanswered questions, come on by Sunday and ask Marcus and Joel directly.

One request: don't ask "Are you guys going to make it?" Pretty please......

Randy's commentary about the project is dead on.

Q1: What's the worst case scenario?

M.E.: Besides falling in or getting run over, the worst case scenario is that plastic trash continues to fill our oceans.

Q2: I was expecting you to say, "we end up lost at sea." Isn't that the worst case scenario?

M.E.: We've filed that scenario right next to, "killed in a car crash on the way to the launch," which is about equal probability.

Q3: What makes you so confident in the seaworthiness of the raft?

M.E.: One word ... "redundancy."

Q4: Which means ...?

M.E.: That everything is backed up at least once. It's the key to safety on a journey like this. We have three GPS units, 2 satellite phones, 2 VHF radios, IPERB Coast Guard Beacon, and 3 months worth of food and water. And when it comes to flotation, we have more than just two -- we actually have 12 pontoons, so if one were to rupture we can easily stay afloat on the other 11 while we fix it.

Q5: Is this the most dangerous crossing anyone has ever attempted from California to Hawaii?

M.E.: Well, I'm not the first to raft this passage. In 1958 4 men drifted on a 20 ton wooden platform without even any sails from Hermosa Beach to Hawaii! They didn't have any of the incredible technology we'll have - no GPS, satellite telephone, or the five gallon bucket of Hershey's kisses I've packed away. We anticipate it will take 6 weeks for 1.5 tons of JUNK to sail the same distance.

Q6: Are you worried about getting caught in a hurricane?

M.E.: We're going at the best time of the year for weather - May/June. It's when most people try to schedule this journey. There's always a risk of severe weather at sea, but the hurricanes generally tend to form off Baja and move north if the water is warm. To our advantage, this year the water has remained unusually cold off California which greatly reduces the likelihood of a hurricane moving up. But if one hits, our only choice is to hold on till it blows over.

Q7: Do you have enough experience for this journey?

M.E.: Yes, we both do. Joel Paschal, my sailing partner, and I met in Hawaii earlier this year as crew aboard the ORV Alguita. We traveled with Captain Charles Moore 4000 miles across the North Pacific Ocean to quantify the accumulation of plastic trash.
It was on that expedition that Joel, Anna Cummins and I talked about the project "Message in a Bottle". We designed our raft and planned our journey under the watchful eye of Captain Moore, an experienced sailor having crossed to Hawaii and back over 10 times.

Q8: What's the risk of getting run over by an ocean liner?

M.E.: The risk is slim, but not impossible. We will be crossing through shipping lanes. Our redundant radio equipment and AIS, which allows ships to identify each other, will keep us and other ships in communication. Also, our 20 sailboat masts used for the deck, and aluminum airplane fuselage for a cabin, creates an enormous radar signature. We have a better chance of being seen by big ships than typical fiberglass sailboats do.

Q9: Don't you think if the raft were to be lost at sea people like Jay Leno would have a lot of fun with it - to say that two guys went out to draw attention to the problem of plastics in the sea and ended up adding another 15,000 plastic bottles to the problem?

M.E.: Well, as I've said, the risks of the raft not making it are the same as any other sailboat. But more importantly, let's look at the facts. Over 10,000 pounds of plastic trash enter the oceans every day from just the city of Los Angeles. Our raft has a total of about 350 pounds - a drop in the bucket. If adding that relatively small amount more of plastics to the oceans is enough to get the issue talked about on national television its absolutely worth it, because right now, virtually no one is giving this issue much thought. It has to start somewhere.

Q10: But still, in the end, anyone venturing out into the open ocean is risking their lives. Why are you doing this?

M.E.: Yes, we are risking our lives, but the issue of petroleum-based plastic and our national dependence on petroleum, warrant urgent action. My quality of life, the future of our nation's economy, environmental quality, and human health, are at stake. I remember 17 years ago, as a young Marine in the Gulf War, standing in Kuwait City covered with drops of oil from the burning wells, saying to myself, "Why have we done this?" James Baker, former Secretary of State, the man that sent me to war, said recently, "We had a written policy that we would go to war to defend secure access to the energy reserves of the Persian Gulf." THIS IS NOT WHY I CHOSE TO SERVE MY COUNTRY!

This expedition aims to alert my nation to the plastic marine debris issue, the legislation that will cure this plague, and the corrosive national policy toward energy that fails us all.

June 1st: Bon Voyage for Junk!

2008-05-22T14:31:00.000-07:00

Junk Floats!

2008-05-20T07:19:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we returned from our test run with Junk, halfway to Catalina and back. The picture below says it all.

©Peter Bennett/Ambient Images

Not only did Junk float, she performed beautifully - a solid, sturdy, and most unusual looking craft. Many passing boaters did a double take, jaws dropping when they heard Junk was destined for Hawaii.....

Now, the final push to get her provisioned, solar panels installed, and final touches added before our JUNE 1ST Bon Voyage.

Join us to wave Junk farewellfrom 2:00-3:00 at the Long Beach Aquarium.

JUNK's maiden voyage Sunday

2008-05-15T16:07:00.000-07:00

This coming Sunday, at noon, Junk will set forth on her first test run, or "shakedown cruise" before the big June 1st departure.

Captain Charles Moore and a crew from Algalita will tow Junk with the ORV Alguita out to Catalina, where Joel and Marcus will have a chance to see how she handles wind and waves.....

Hard to believe that what looked like this just a month ago:

Came to look like this a week ago,

......and by Sunday will be a complete boat, with masts, sail, and two sailors with some serious cojones.

We'll return to the Aquarium marina Monday around noon. After Monday, Joel and Marcus should have a much better idea of any final tweaking that needs to be done, and an inkling of what they have in store for them......

Raising the mast - to new sponsors!

2008-05-09T14:45:00.000-07:00

Masts off to Patagonia and The North Face Junk's two newest sponsors!

Friends Bryan Hays and Lois Cunningham at Patagonia, and Karin Carter at The North Face helped connect Algalita's mission with their companies vision, outfitting our intrepid sailors with weatherproof gear and support for the journey ahead.

This past weekend we raised the mast, one of the last major tasks before Junk's "Shakedown Cruise" this coming weekend, her first short voyage to Catalina and back to test her mettle.

As the final June 1st departure fast approaches, Marcus contemplates the journey ahead......and wonders just how small a shared fuselage will become after 6 weeks at sea.

Junk hit the water!!

2008-05-04T22:43:00.000-07:00

After exactly 2 months of round the clock hustle and bustle, Junk is finally in her element, floating in the Long Beach Aquarium's adjacent marina.

All photos: ©Peter Bennett
Getting her into the water was a Herculean feat - requiring the muscle of about 14 people, including several unsuspecting onlookers who were cajoled into lending a hand....

Thanks to some impressive management by Marcus and Joel, what looked like an impossible task went off without a hitch.

Piece by piece, the frame, pontoons, and airplane were loaded onto a trailer, towed to the marina, and heaved and hauled to the waters edge.

Junk now sits in the water, looking for the first time like a bona fide boat. Much work remains to make her seaworthy - fine tuning, equipping, and provisioning, but the most challenging hurdles are now behind us.

Save for the obvious one.......the voyage itself.

As the launch date approaches, interest in the project grows exponentially. In the last few weeks alone, Marcus has been filmed and interviewed for Planet Green's Supper Club, Mario Van Peebles show "Mario's Green House", The Sundance Channel's The Green, Peter Greenberg Worldwide, city radio in Portland Oregon, and a Swedish TV channel. KNBC will also be featuring the project in an upcoming episode of their show Going Green.

Here's Marcus chatting plastic with Van Peebles at a recent Friends of the LA River event.

SO WHEN IS THE LAUNCH DATE??
Mark your calendars for Sunday June 1st at the Long Beach Aquarium, details to come.

*Thanks to Peter Bennett from Ambient Images for the tremendous professional photos. Peter will hopefully be lending his photography skills for upcoming Junk events.

New sponsors and volunteers join Junk

2008-04-29T18:17:00.000-07:00

The last week has been a watershed for Junk. Hopefully helping us keep Junk out of our watersheds....

On our final weekend of construction before needing to get the raft off the Aquarium lawn and into the water, volunteers and support poured in from all ends. Critical help at the 11th hour.

Saturday and Sunday, during a suffocating heat wave, volunteers showed up to help toil and sweat, pulling labels off hundreds of plastic bottles, stuffing bottles into old nets to form pontoons, and keeping spirits high as the prospect of moving this massively heavy beast loomed in the air.

Here's the crew, mugging for the camera after several sweltering hours. AMRF board member Duane Laursen (with the Beach T) vacuumed upwards of 300 pounds of sand from the inside of our airplane cabin, while High School students from Lennox Academy sacrificed their Sunday to sweat for the cause.

We also had two new sponsors join the project - Kashi Cereal and Shifting Baselines.

Shifting Baselines director Randy Olson even trekked down to Long Beach to visit our site, and wrote about the project on their science blog.

All is coming together miraculously on schedule, including today's monumental feat - heaving the raft - airplane fuselage and all - into the water. Stay tuned, pix and stories to come.

Chicago students on board

2008-04-25T09:56:00.000-07:00

Students across the nation are pitching in to promote Message in a Bottle. As this groundswell continues gaining momentum, we're confident that major shifts in our disposable mentality will follow.....

Here, a group of students from Bell Elementary in Chicago are learning about plastic marine debris, and writing messages to their legislators to express their concern.

We "met" these students on our last Gyre voyage - they followed our blog, and were inspired to do more as a community.

So their green committee decided to support Junk by sponsoring two cases of bottles, organizing a letter writing campaign, and studying marine conservation in their classroom.

A huge thanks to Katherine Miller, the Parent Green Committee, and the wonderful students of Bell Elementary for joining us on this important mission.

Students helping to build Junk

2008-04-16T15:27:00.000-07:00

Junk is beginning to take shape! Thanks to the incredible help of Samohi's Team Marine and the Environmental Charter High School's Green Ambassadors, we'll have our first few pontoons built by the end of the week.

Here's the "mock up" above, the skeleton of what Junk will look like - aluminum shipping masts lashed together to create a massive, recycled foundation.

The frame will perch atop 4, 30-foot long pontoons made out of plastic bottles and derelict fishing net, collected from Port Townsend, Santa Cruz, Los Angeles, and possibly New Orleans in a few weeks.....

Each pontoon provides roughly 2,000 pounds of buoyancy, adding up to 8,000 pounds total - more than enough to carry our two lean sailors, the airplane fuselage they'll live in for 6 weeks, a ton of supplies, and just enough chocolate to keep Marcus fueled.

Here are some Green Ambassadors getting busy with bottles after school - washing, de-labeling, making sure caps are super tight, and laying in a trough lined with derelict fishing net.

This mass of bottles will be wrapped with a few more layers of net, and voila - our first light weight, low cost, functional pontoon. 1 down, 3 to go......

Treehugger covers Junk

2008-04-15T14:09:00.000-07:00

One of our favorite green rags, Treehugger, wrote a nice piece here on Junk last week.

With one correction - while we were 6 on the ORV Alguita's January Gyre crossing, there will only be two intrepid sailors on this voyage, Marcus Eriksen and Joel Paschal. The nature of this undertaking calls for a light, tight crew.

Anna Cummins will be maintaining PR and blog from land, and praying for Junk's speedy return.

From the comments on the Treehugger post, it seems there is still quite a bit of confusion about the size of the Gyre (twice the size of Texas, the US, or the Moon?) as well as the feasibility of cleanup. There has been an explosion of recent press about the Gyre, and with it, many myths are perpetuated.

This is part of our mission: to debunk the many urban legends floating around, and to bring people the straight junk, so we can stop junk at the source.

The bottle collection begins

2008-04-08T10:57:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the incredible generosity of the Burbank Recycling Center, we picked up our first couple van loads of plastic bottles last week!

2,000 down. 18,000 to go.....

We connected with the Burbank Recycling Center through our friend Mark Cappellano, who introduced us last month to director Geoff Folsom and recycling coordinator Kreigh Hampel.

Here's Marcus, in deep conversation with Geoff about plastic waste.

Talking trash with these two was a whirlwind "recycling 101" - both are walking encyclopedias of all things recyclable. And definitely on the same sustainability page.

They stepped up BIG time to support "Message in a Bottle", offering to donate all 20,000 bottles for the project, putting us in touch with media and school contacts, and even getting their hands dirty with us.

Their very patient staff emptied container after container of bottles for us to sort through - we can only use bottles that held carbonated drinks, or thick plastic bottles like Gatorade.

Seeing the amount of water bottles compared to other drinks was pretty incredible, a good 80-90%. We are a without a doubt a thirsty bunch, and have swallowed the clever marketing gimmicks of the bottled water industry hook line and sinker.

Sorting through these all will take some time....Geoff and Kreigh will be seeing quite a bit of us in the coming weeks!

JUNK gets some local press

2008-03-29T13:47:00.001-07:00

Our first writeup in the Long Beach Press-Telegram - reporters were on hand Thursday afternoon to see the spectacle of an old Cessna Fuselage deposted on the Aquarium's front lawn.

On Thursday, Marcus and Joel picked up the fuselage - what will be their dwelling place for a month and a half - from an airplane boneyard in Palm Dale.

After an arduous two hour effort loading the 400 pound relic in the sweltering desert heat, the plane was safely delivered to the Aquarium. Next week, were hoping to pick up our first van full of plastic bottles from the Burbank Recycling Center.

Let the building begin.......

JUNK to be built at Aquarium of the Pacific!

2008-03-29T12:56:00.001-07:00

We're thrilled to announce that the Aquarium of the Pacific has generously offered a space on their front lawn to build "Junk", our plastic bottle raft!

As an added educational opportunity, the Aquarium invited AMRF to display "Fluke", another plastic bottle craft built by Dr. Marcus Eriksen, with students from the Environmental Charter High School. The image here shows Marcus and Aquarium staff in front of Fluke.

With daily visits to the Aquarium of 6,000-7,000 thousand people, this venue will provide tremendous visibility for the project, as well the opportunity to share AMRF's research with the public.

Special thanks to Dr. Jerry Schubel, President and CEO, Erica Noriega, Special Events Manager, and Michael Kent, Manager and Security, for their time, and valuable partership.

Message in a Bottle

2008-03-25T22:13:00.000-07:00

Building on the tremendous momentum of our recent voyage across the North Pacific Gyre, The Algalita Marine Research Foundation is planning another epic sailing journey from Los Angeles back to Hawaii.... blogger.com/_1bKnHq3a-W8/R9G5GxtR38I/AAAAAAAAAd0/79p_16wPGA4/s200/fluke.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5175120972899016642" />

On a raft built of 20,000 plastic bottles.

The journey is part 2 of a 3-phase project to raise awareness about the mounting issue of plastic debris in the ocean:

PART 1: A 4,200 mile Trans-Pacific voyage aboard the ORV Alguita, to research plastic marine debris;

PART II: Building a boat dubbed "Junk" out of 20,000 plastic bottles, and sailing from Los Angeles to Hawaii; (image here shows an earlier raft, "Plastic Poison", built by Dr. Eriksen with volunteers from Turning the Tide in Juneau, Alaska)

PART III: Riding/rafting from Vancouver to Mexico on two amphibious bikes, to give presentations and distribute ocean samples relating to plastic debris.

THE TEAM:
Here we are, from left to right: Joel Paschal, Dr. Marcus Eriksen, and Anna Cummins.

Marcus and Anna met Joel aboard the ORV Alguita, on our journey from Hawaii to Los Angeles, through the North Pacific Gyre.

Dr. Eriksen is AMRF Director of Research and Education, Anna works as Education Adviser for AMRF, as well as running Bring Your Own, and Joel, former NOAA marine debris researcher/diver, is heading up the raft construction and coordinating our footage. Yes, a documentary may be in the works......

Navigation

2007-06-25T11:05:00.000-07:00

Those with a deeper interest in Navigation will relate: navigation begins with knowing your boat's strengths and weaknesses.

Junk is fastest when running downwind, but can make progress with the wind on her beam. The rhumb line bearing from our current location to Honolulu is 254.8 degrees.

The bearing is the direction, North=0 or 360, East=90, South=180 and West= 270. So 254.8 is West Southwest. Since the ideal wind for Junk comes from straight behind, we want wind coming from our reciprocal bearing. To calculate the reciprocal of 254.8 degrees, subtract 180--gives us 74.8 degrees or East Northeast. Since Junk can sail 90 degree off the wind, we can add 90 degrees to 74.8, and subtract 90 degrees from 74.8, to get 164.8 degrees and 347.8 degrees.

Is anyone's head spinning yet?

So....we need winds between approx 75 degrees and 350 degrees, roughly 3/4 of the compass! Only in Southwest, or zero winds are we slowed, during which time we drift, read, cook, work on boat projects, blog, and rest...

Next key: knowing where the favorable winds are. At times, we may even reroute our course to seek better winds and better time.

One of the best ways of forecasting the winds within a month is to use a pilot chart:

This here was for the month of June. The circles with radiating arms are wind roses. The wind frequency from any direction is proportional to the arm's length, while widths indicate the frequency of wind speeds blowing in that direction. Do you see the small blue dot on this chart? I drew this next to the closest wind rose. Shows mostly North, Northwest and West winds, with speeds between 4 and 6 on the Beaufort scale.

We're hoping for stronger winds -- tricky to make an efficient beam reach with light winds.

The next step is to look at the wind roses nearby, to see which where the favorable winds are coming from. South Southwest has a very long North Northwest arm with a wind frequency range of 4-6 on the Beaufort scale. From there, a North Northwest wind will allow us to sail Southwest into the even more consistent easterly, or "trade winds", used by ship’s in the 1700’s to sail west across Atlantic and Pacific trade routes.

The blue arrows, representing current direction, point in a westerly direction. The more solid the line, the greater consistency in the current direction. The arrow's tail indicates speed.

We also use the chart plotter/GPS to navigate - essentially an electronic version of the paper chart.

The GPS interfaces with the chart plotter and indicates Junk’s position, as a black triangular shape on the screen. We use the chart to avoid hazards - islands, rocks or shoals with breaking waves. As the saying goes “The ocean is not that dangerous, it’s the hard parts around the edges that will get ya”.

The chart plotter shows our Latitude and longitude, our Course Over Ground (COG), and our Speed Over Ground (SOG). While sailing, we can experiment with different sail trimming configurations, comparing COG and SOG to monitor improvements.

The charter plotter also allows us to pick a waypoint to assess our bearing and remaining distance, and acts as the screen for our AIS system.

In short, extremely helpful tools.

WHY JUNK

2007-06-18T14:00:00.000-07:00

We’ve cast ourselves away on a raft in the Pacific Ocean to the mercy of wind and waves to talk about the stuff that floats our boat – disposable plastic waste. Our Synthetic States are awash with plastic trash. Recycling programs are largely inefficient, comparing manufacture to post-consumer recovery. Plastic production and packaging industries are reluctant to curb the making of disposable plastics, considering the 100% growth in plastic production over the past 20 years, largely due to single-use disposables. By 1980 we were making more plastic than steel. But unlike the stone, iron, bronze and steel, the Age of Plastic is forever. Plastic was designed to be non-biodegradable and resistant to degradation, and so it is here to stay.
Earlier this year, Joel, Anna and I were half the crew on the 6th expedition of the ORV Alguita, with Captain Charles Moore, to study the accumulation of plastic trash in the North Pacific Gyre (NPG). The NPG is a clockwise rotating mass of the ocean surface, roughly twice the size of the United States, extending from 500 miles off the California coast to 200 miles east of Japan. It’s like a toilet bowl that never flushes. We’ve found exponential growth in fragmented plastic particles, from .002g/m2 in 1999, .004g/m2 in 2005 and conceivably doubling again three years later in 2008. We have yet to quantify that data, but it’s visually more dense than ever, leaving us with a sense of urgency to address this problem.
Anna and I had talked about building JUNK months earlier. Getting to know Joel during the 2008 expedition sealed the deal. Quickly our project began to take a life of it’s own as the sweat and support of dozens of people and companies poured in. Joel and I are the lucky sailors that get to live on board. JUNK floats on the same kinds of plastic trash we found in the gyre, including 15,000 plastic bottles, and over 5,000 plastic bags woven into rope. Used masts, airplane parts, and netting were harder to find. In 2 ½ months JUNK became seaworthy.

Just beginning our journey, we already see floating plastic out here.....

Plastic waste leaving coastal watersheds drifts with the current into the North Pacific Gyre, as we may also. Or it drifts back to shore, as we may as well. What we are sure of is that our consumption of disposable plastics negatively impacts the marine environment and is becoming a human health concern.

We’ve cast ourselves away to begin a dialogue about solutions. Please visit the Algalita Marine Research Foundation for facts about plastic in the marine environment and Heal the Bay to see what legislation is heading your way.

The Evolution of JUNK

2007-05-27T10:22:00.000-07:00

PART I: Collecting JUNK

PART II

FAQs: is it safe?

2007-05-25T22:01:00.000-07:00

Shifting Baselines Director Randy Olson asks Marcus asks a number of questions on many peoples minds.

Q1: What's the worst case scenario?

M.E.: Besides falling in or getting run over, the worst case scenario is that plastic trash continues to fill our oceans.

Q2: I was expecting you to say, "we end up lost at sea." Isn't that the worst case scenario?

M.E.: We've filed that scenario right next to, "killed in a car crash on the way to the launch," which is about equal probability.

Q3: What makes you so confident in the seaworthiness of the raft?

M.E.: One word ... "redundancy."

Q4: Which means ...?

M.E.: That everything is backed up at least once. It's the key to safety on a journey like this. We have three GPS units, 2 satellite phones, 2 VHF radios, IPERB Coast Guard Beacon, and 3 months worth of food and water. And when it comes to flotation, we have more than just two -- we actually have 12 pontoons, so if one were to rupture we can easily stay afloat on the other 11 while we fix it.

Q5: Is this the most dangerous crossing anyone has ever attempted from California to Hawaii?

M.E.: Well, I'm not the first to raft this passage. In 1958 4 men drifted on a 20 ton wooden platform without even any sails from Hermosa Beach to Hawaii! They didn't have any of the incredible technology we'll have - no GPS, satellite telephone, or the five gallon bucket of Hershey's kisses I've packed away. We anticipate it will take 6 weeks for 1.5 tons of JUNK to sail the same distance.

Q6: Are you worried about getting caught in a hurricane?

M.E.: We're going at the best time of the year for weather - May/June. It's when most people try to schedule this journey. There's always a risk of severe weather at sea, but the hurricanes generally tend to form off Baja and move north if the water is warm. To our advantage, this year the water has remained unusually cold off California which greatly reduces the likelihood of a hurricane moving up. But if one hits, our only choice is to hold on till it blows over.

Q7: Do you have enough experience for this journey?

M.E.: Yes, we both do. Joel Paschal, my sailing partner, and I met in Hawaii earlier this year as crew aboard the ORV Alguita. We traveled with Captain Charles Moore 4000 miles across the North Pacific Ocean to quantify the accumulation of plastic trash.
It was on that expedition that Joel, Anna Cummins and I talked about the project "Message in a Bottle". We designed our raft and planned our journey under the watchful eye of Captain Moore, an experienced sailor having crossed to Hawaii and back over 10 times.

Q8: What's the risk of getting run over by an ocean liner?

M.E.: The risk is slim, but not impossible. We will be crossing through shipping lanes. Our redundant radio equipment and AIS, which allows ships to identify each other, will keep us and other ships in communication. Also, our 20 sailboat masts used for the deck, and aluminum airplane fuselage for a cabin, creates an enormous radar signature. We have a better chance of being seen by big ships than typical fiberglass sailboats do.

Q9: Don't you think if the raft were to be lost at sea people like Jay Leno would have a lot of fun with it - to say that two guys went out to draw attention to the problem of plastics in the sea and ended up adding another 15,000 plastic bottles to the problem?

M.E.: Well, as I've said, the risks of the raft not making it are the same as any other sailboat. But more importantly, let's look at the facts. Over 10,000 pounds of plastic trash enter the oceans every day from just the city of Los Angeles. Our raft has a total of about 350 pounds - a drop in the bucket. If adding that relatively small amount more of plastics to the oceans is enough to get the issue talked about on national television its absolutely worth it, because right now, virtually no one is giving this issue much thought. It has to start somewhere.

Q10: But still, in the end, anyone venturing out into the open ocean is risking their lives. Why are you doing this?

M.E.: Yes, we are risking our lives, but the issue of petroleum-based plastic and our national dependence on petroleum, warrant urgent action. My quality of life, the future of our nation's economy, environmental quality, and human health, are at stake. I remember 17 years ago, as a young Marine in the Gulf War, standing in Kuwait City covered with drops of oil from the burning wells, saying to myself, "Why have we done this?" James Baker, former Secretary of State, the man that sent me to war, said recently, "We had a written policy that we would go to war to defend secure access to the energy reserves of the Persian Gulf." THIS IS NOT WHY I CHOSE TO SERVE MY COUNTRY!

This expedition aims to alert my nation to the plastic marine debris issue, the legislation that will cure this plague, and the corrosive national policy toward energy that fails us all.

Junk Sponsors

2007-05-25T14:16:00.000-07:00

Airborne Technologies, Inc.
Aquarium of the Pacific
Aqua Resorts
Avalon Rafts
Burbank Recycling Center
Captain Planet Foundation
Chico Bag
Close The Loop, LLC
Ecousable
Explorer Satellite
Green Drinks
Heal The Bay
Herb Machleder
Kainoa's Bar
Kashi
Long Beach Marine Electronics
MUSE Elementary
OCENS Inc.
Ocean Detox
Packaging 2.0
Patagonia
Permacity
Shifting Baselines
Skyscrape Foundation
Solar Design Associates
Sundiver 2
The North Face
TrekMe
Ullman Sails
Waikiki Aquarium
Whole Foods Market

On Board: Sponsors, Schools, and Friends

2007-05-23T15:54:00.000-07:00

This project would not be possible without the help of many wonderful sponsors - all of whom support our mission.

Skyscrape Foundation
Burbank Recycling Center
Kashi Cereal
Ecousables

Synopsis

2007-05-23T10:52:00.000-07:00

JUNK RAFT SAILS TO HAWAII TO PROTEST PLASTIC POLLUTION OF THE SEA.

SYNOPSIS: Two eco-mariners are sailing a raft built of junk to help call attention to a major oceanic environmental problem – the accumulation of plastic trash in the seas.

WHY IS THIS PROBLEM IMPORTANT: The huge volume of plastic trash now drifting in the oceans interrupts the feeding of marine life (birds choke on plastic trash, plankton ingest microscopic particles of plastics) and plastics release toxins into the water.

WHERE IS IT WORST: In the North Pacific Gyre, north of Hawaii, there is now more plastic, by weight, than plankton. It’s a huge region of circling currents that concentrate the debris, thousands of miles from land.

WHAT IS BEING DONE ABOUT IT: The Algalita Marine Research Foundation sponsor of the voyage, is studying the problem. An increasing number of environmental groups are backing legislation to cut back on the use of disposable plastics. Heal the Bay, another major sponsor of the voyage, currently runs a major program on the problem of plastics in the sea. The journey is intended to help call attention to these projects.

VOYAGE DETAILS
DEPARTURE FROM CALIFORNIA: June 1, 2008 from Long Beach Aquarium

ARRIVAL IN HAWAII: August 27, 2008 (current estimate) in Ala Wai Harbor, near Honolulu, Oahu

THE TWO MARINERS: Dr. Marcus Eriksen, Joel Paschal, with Anna Cummins as ground support.

PURPOSE OF JOURNEY: To call attention to the growing problem of plastic trash in the Pacific Ocean

THE RAFT: 30 feet long, built on six pontoons filled with 15,000 plastic bottles, deck is made of salvaged sailboat masts, cabin is the fuselage of a Cessna airplane, the vessel has 4 sails and can make 90 degrees headway into the wind.

SPEED: roughly 2 knots, equals about 50 miles per day

FOOD: They brought several months supply which has been supplemented with mahi mahi and squid they have caught along the way

BLOG: www.junkraft.com

MOST DANGEROUS MOMENT: Driving to the Long Beach Aquarium on the day of departure (everything has been smooth sailing since then)

THE BAD NEWS (and a major headline): After nearly 3 months at sea, NONE of the 15,000 plastic bottles have shown much sign of wear and tear, showing how incredibly durable these plastic are that wash into the sea.

SPONSORS: The project gained initial support from the Sky Scrape Foundation and the Burbank Recycling Center which provided most of the 15,000 bottles. However, Patagonia also gave over 1000 Nalgene bottles that are being phased out of their product line due to concerns over chemicals in the plastics. One of the sponsors, Eco-Usables has developed a stainless steel safe alternative to plastic water bottles. Students from Santa Monica High School and the Environmental Charter High School helped stuff the bottles into the pontoons, and MUSE Elementary provided support. Additional sponsors include Kashi Cereal, LA Green Drinks, Patagonia, Shifting Baselines, Solar Design Associates, MUSE Elementary School, and North Face.

About Us

2007-05-23T10:51:00.000-07:00

The Algalita Marine Research Foundation presents the JUNK team:

Dr. Marcus Eriksen
(323) 395-1843
marcuseriksen at hotmail.com

Joel Paschal
(765) 430-7004
joel.paschal at gmail.com

Anna Cummins
(310) 998-8616
annacummins at gmail.com

Dr. Marcus Eriksen

The man with the plan. Since 2005, Marcus has dreamed of doing a modern day Kontiki-style voyage, on a raft built from plastic bottles. After returning from Algalita’s recent Gyre voyage, he felt that the time was now. In March, Marcus, Joel and Anna dove in full speed.

A Gulf War Veteran, Marcus believes strongly that he has felt a cause worth fighting for – sustainability.

Full bio here, including alter ego Commando Weather Man.

Joel Paschal
Just 6 months ago, Joel was minding his own business in Hawaii. For the past 3 months, he’s been living on a boat in Marina Del Rey, designing and building Junk, to set sail June 1st.

Resident filmmaker and self proclaimed "freelance errand boy". Joel previously worked for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, where he spent 4 months at sea studying marine debris. He "just couldn't get enough of trash", and volunteered to help design, build, and sail Junk, all in 3 months time.

Joel will be documenting Junk for a future documentary.

Anna Cummins
Though aboard in spirit, her body will be very much on land. Anna will handle ground support - maintaining communications, press, and blog, while eagerly awaiting calls from Junk, and experimenting with reusable bags for distraction.

Anna joined AMRF as education adviser in 2007, after many years of fascination with the plastics issue. She will join Marcus for the next phase of Message in a Bottle later this fall - a West Coast outreach tour, from Vancouver to Mexico....on amphibious bikes.

Sponsorship Opportunities

2007-04-02T10:03:00.000-07:00

Support JUNK's message across the Pacific

We are seeking like-minded partnerships to support our Message in a Bottle project, a 3-part campaign to bring public attention to plastic debris. Though our current phase, JUNK is underway, we are still seeking sponsors to bring the raft and its sailors home, and to continue generating media/public awareness.

In addition to mention on our site, recognition at our Hawaii and Los Angeles events, media recognition, and other PR benefits, we will display company logos on JUNK's sail for the voyage into Honolulu. (We will bring these out to JUNK 24 hours before the Oahu arrival)

To discuss sponsorship opportunities, contact annacummins at gmail.com