Comments on: Contact Us

By: Alejandro Godoy

Alejandro Godoy — Thu, 27 May 2010 22:22:01 +0000

Greetings, My name is Alejandro, I’am an athelete, pilot, inventor and I have a plan to raise big money and a plan to make a DENT at the Garbage patch in the Pacific. If you want to “seriously” talk, please send me an e-mail. I don’t want to waist your time AND my time. Thank you AG.

By: Miriam Goldstein

Miriam Goldstein — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 17:46:38 +0000

Hello Tiffany, The plastic in the North Pacific Gyre is a perfect example of non-point source pollution. That means that there is no obvious responsible party. The plastic comes from all around the Pacific Rim - floating trash that falls off the west coast of North America or the east coast of Asia will end up there eventually. There is international law prohibiting further dumping of plastic debris at sea. But there is no legal penalty for trash that is already in international waters because no single party or country is responsible. Hope that helps!

By: Tiffany Cavanagh

Tiffany Cavanagh — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 11:35:32 +0000

There must be some sort of legislation in place to prevent or at the very least hold accountable those responsible for this, why has this been able to occur and why is there no legal ramifications being publicised? Thank you

By: Miriam Goldstein

Miriam Goldstein — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:24:17 +0000

We are no longer sending email updates. New info will go out on our Twitter, or on this blog. Thanks for your interest!

By: Eric Framburg

Eric Framburg — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:38:07 +0000

I went to the sign up for e-mails site but I could not where to sign up. Is this it? If so would you please sign me up. Thanks.

By: Miriam Goldstein

Miriam Goldstein — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 21:45:38 +0000

Since most of the plastic is the same size as the marine life, it will be quite a challenge to clean it up without killing everything. Our collaborators, Project Kaisei, are exploring the possibilities. But basic research, like the kind done on the SEAPLEX voyage, is critical to understanding how to approach this - you can't clean something up if you don't know where it is, how big it is, and what the collateral damage will be.

By: Bali Capers

Bali Capers — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 04:51:10 +0000

I understand the importance of research on the patch and its effects on the systems around it; also please excuse my rather simple observation, maybe I missed some previous vital information; however: there is no doubt this pollution is detrimental to the environment, so would there be any way several ship could be fitted as garbage collectors and just go pick this mess up? Please, don’t just look at it, marvel in disgust over it, collect samples and turn around and leave it there. We know it is already killing wildlife, clean it up, please! Can somebody tell me if anything is being done about this?

By: Alison Cawood

Alison Cawood — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 20:48:28 +0000

The entire digestive tract of the dissected animals will be studied. For the most part, fecal pellets from the fish and other animals sink. Also, they are pretty fragile, so that isn’t really something that we are set up to study on this cruise. There are ways to look at that and there may be some plans to work with that in a laboratory setting after the cruise. The plastic does serve as habitat, but that doesn’t mean that it is a good thing. Many of the animals (like mussels) don’t have natural population in the middle of the ocean. By giving them a habitat, it allows them to be in places where they don’t really belong which can change ecosystems through changes in competition for food or space or by introducing invasive species into new habitats.

By: Alison Cawood

Alison Cawood — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 20:42:44 +0000

They aren’t on the New Horizon. I think that they are on the Kaisei tall ship. There is a blog from that ship as well that you can get to via the Project Kaisei website.

By: Debra Lewis

Debra Lewis — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 12:00:17 +0000

I am an entertainer in Mobile, AL. I have always been fascinated by aquaculture. As detrimental as the plastic can be it appears it is as much a haven and habitat for many organisms especially for plankton fauna. I do wonder about the affects of digestion by organisms especially the larger animals. Have you seen any floating fish spore possibly with plastic bits that may have passed though an animal’s system? I read that some of the larger pieces offer shade among other things. The barnacles or mussels attached to the floating stuff was more proof of plastic as habitat not just waste-it seems to be serving a beneficial purpose. Are you checking the water for microscopic plastic bits? like pollen grains are now studied in the current and fossil records? Besides checking stomach contents do you check the contents of the entire GI tract animals you dissect? May your seas be smooth and the trade winds favorable.

Debra Lewis/STAR KARAOKE
Mobile, AL (Central Gulf Coast)