Yes, you read that right. The garbage patch.
When most people imagine setting sail, their destination usually involves white sand, palm trees, and a fruity drink with an umbrella in it. When a 5 Gyres Institute expedition departs, their destination is the garbage patch of marine debris that accumulates in the world’s oceans.
Marine debris brought to land. Photo credit: State of Hawaii
A gyre is a giant circular oceanic surface current. (It’s also a good scrabble word.) Trash is easily caught in the slow whirlpool, creating a floating island of debris large enough to be called a continent.
The 5 Gyres Institute’s latest expedition departs now. Follow the Sea Dragon as it heads for the North Pacific Gyre – “the most heavily researched for plastic pollution, spans an area roughly twice the size of the United States – though it is a fluid system, shifting seasonally in size and shape.”
It will make you think twice about the way we consume plastic.
Scary to think about!