Today, September 7, Oceanographic Research Vessel Alguita is scheduled to depart on a 10 year retrospective voyage to study plastic pollution in the Pacific Ocean! This voyage from Hawaii to California will include an opportunity for the research team to re-sample the original 1999 plastic debris sampling locations. This 10-year time span will provide further information about the rate of growth and seasonal changes in plastic density in this remote region of the North Pacific Ocean. The data from the 1999 trip will be significantly strengthened by a summer sampling of the same transects during this ten year anniversary of the Algalita Marine Research Foundations first research voyage to the "garbage patch". The levels of plastic can then be compared to the levels found ten years ago, and related to our model predictions, allowing for a determination of growth during that period.
To learn more about how the ORV Alguita research team studies plastic pollution in the Pacific Ocean visit the link below!
http://algalita.org/Maps_Home.html
To learn more about the research crew and how they got involved in working aboard and Oceanographic Research Vessel visit this link:
http://orvalguita.googlepages.com/meetthecrew!
Click here to post a comment or question to the crew or to introduce your school!
11 comments:
Welcome aboard for the September voyage!
Please introduce your school and let us know of any questions you have about getting started.
My oceanography class at West High School in Anchorage, Alaska is looking forward to sailing with you virtually on this retrospective voyage in order to learn about ocean pollution. We will be reading your daily updates and posting questions and comments. Thank you for sharing your research with us!
We are so looking forward to this next voyage! We are starting the semester with tracking trash by Loree Burns. We love reading and hearing the other student questions from all over and really love the great responses to our questions from the crew. Happy sailing. Patty, Sally, and of course Cleo
Home school
York
Maine
Hi from Grade 5 at Brooksbank Elementary School in North Vancouver, BC, Canada. School is just starting up for us here... hope the Alguita enjoys the waning full moon as they take their departure.
We look forward to following the noon position lat/long reports.
Fair winds!
Hi from our 11th-12th marine science classes at River Ridge High School in New Pt. Richey, FL. There are about 140 of us who will be keeping up with your voyage. We're really looking forward to hearing about it. Good luck!
Hello again. My 4H group followed your summer trip. For this September voyage I am also including the 30 students from my online Ecology10 course at Las Positas Community College in Livermore CA. We're getting a late start but I suspect we will make up for it in no time.
I'll be thinking about you during Saturday's California Coastal Cleanup! I know this event will hi light just how much land based plastic is making its way out to sea.
Amy Chovnick
School: Las Positas Community College
County, State: Alameda, CA
Name: Rachel A.
Sounds like an adventure. I especially like the blog about making freshwater! That was funny! What have you found to be your greatest challenge on your journey? I mean do you get sea sick how do you handle that, showering? How has changed from what you do day to day?
Stay safe!
Clay F.
Grade 9
East Hills 4H
San Leandro, CA
How is the Pacific Garbage Patch ever going to get cleaned up? Who will pay for it? Will it be a joint effort or a single country? What methods can be used to collect the plastic and not marine life?
Hello, my name is Sean Peterson and I am currently attending Las Positas Community College in Alameda, Ca. First I would like to thank you for your research and the creation of this blog; I feel it can be used to help bring public attention to the plastics pollution problem we face. I was hoping you might be able to expand on the divergent-convergent wave forms and why plastics travels specifically in the convergent zones. I was suprised to learn that the plastic was not simply scattered but rather traveled in packs. Thank you again for your research!
Did you go into this mission expecting to find all sorts of junk everywhere or were you surprised by what you have found
Janelle T.
Las Positas college
Livermore, ca, USA
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