We are departing today to sail to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and then on to San Francisco. The conditions look fair but can change quickly this time of year, so we'll be keeping a close eye on the weather. We experienced significant delays in Hawaii. The minor repairs took over three weeks to complete due to parts and professional resources availability. We were delayed by 4 hurricanes, and several crew scheduling conflicts and cancelations. We now have the boat fully ready, prepped and provisioned for this ocean crossing and visit to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is located in the Great Pacific Gyre, a large whirlpool like current structure covering thousands of miles. Debris, or trash, collects there and is easiest to see in calm weather as high winds and seas disperse the debris and make it difficult to see. We will find what we can and post it here, on our Facebook Page, Twitter, and Instagram. We are carrying sample kits and research equipment for University of Hawaii, NOAA, NASA, Smithsonian, and other research institutions. The equipment includes satellite trackers that we will attach to larger debris so the debris, can be tracked and studied, biological sample kits to collect fresh water and coastal organisms that have adapted to living on plastic in the middle of the ocean, water sample bottles to collect sea water at different depths to study the micro-plastics, and data input to test statistical modeling of the larger debris locations within the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. We will be posting as much photo and video as we can via our low bandwidths satellite connection. Fair Winds! Capt. Russ |
AuthorRuss is the Captain of Blue Moon. He loves the ocean, sailing, diving, and talking about what he does :-) Archive
August 2019
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