Pacific Trash Vortex! Wow! I had no idea it was this bad!

[scubadrewvideo]

What would we need to do to get them smart enough to realize that pictures help get the word out. It isn't like they are national security pictures. The pics and vid you took only helps their cause on all fronts.

Right you are! I didnt mean for it to say they wont let me post them, I just hadn't confirmed with them. I dont imagine they would care, but when I went back to look at the footage, and pics, there was nothing that would show anyhting different than what is already posted here. I hope to bring back better video and pics from this voyage.

I will be posting another video log on the trashvoyage site soon talking about the very subject being discussed here...changing our behavior.

I remember growing up and my Mom, being the tree hugger that she was, would always take our LL Bean canvas bag to go shopping with. That was before we even had the choice of paper or plastic...why is it so hard to go back to the way things were. We managed to survive without plastic bags until the 70s, so why is it so hard to live without them now? It blows my mind that there are those that even question the economic impact of removing disposable plastic from our society.....Economic concerns wont be a problem if the ocean is dead!

This voyage we plan to study a region that by all scientific predictions should be a much higher concentration that ever seen before. It is also further west than ever studied before. We are leaving on June 10th and sailing west for 2 weeks straight before reaching the sample area across the International Dateline...yes I am sailing back to the future

Thanks again for keeping this topic alive!!!
ScubaDrew

 

[Plumb bob]

It blows my mind that there are those that even question the economic impact of removing disposable plastic from our society.....Economic concerns wont be a problem if the ocean is dead!

ScubaDrew

I'm involved with a group that has been campaigning to get a levy on plastic tote bags, it seems that it will soon be that this will be the case. The amount of bleating about the prospect of paying 5c per bag is just incredible. I'll include a link to a breakfast show that got the manager of one of the companies that is bringing in a 10c levy (proceeds to environmental causes) the presenter of the show (who is the biggest ignoramus we have in this country) completely attacks this fella and has another guy Mr "Huckster extrordinaire" Ken Ring there as a climate change skeptic (more about him if your interested later). This fella Ring would be hard pressed to spell science let alone proclaim upon it. He is not welcome anywhere else so has to get on mindless shows such as breakfast segments.. A big red flag is the fact that he only ever deals with the media, he will not voluntarily submit to (I would say peer review but he doesn't have any peers outside of the zoo) informed review

I couldn't believe how small minded the segment was and how woefully ignorant the view points are. The plastic bag segment starts about 5 mins in..

Latest News - TVNZ ondemand

Here is a very good debunking of the fraudster Ken Ring..
Silly Beliefs - Ken Ring - Weather Forecasting by the Moon or Scam?

Grrrr..

 

[scubadrewvideo]

It wont let me view the video...

 

[rockjock3]

Right you are! I didnt mean for it to say they wont let me post them, I just hadn't confirmed with them. I dont imagine they would care, but when I went back to look at the footage, and pics, there was nothing that would show anyhting different than what is already posted here. I hope to bring back better video and pics from this voyage.

I will be posting another video log on the trashvoyage site soon talking about the very subject being discussed here...changing our behavior.

I remember growing up and my Mom, being the tree hugger that she was, would always take our LL Bean canvas bag to go shopping with. That was before we even had the choice of paper or plastic...why is it so hard to go back to the way things were. We managed to survive without plastic bags until the 70s, so why is it so hard to live without them now? It blows my mind that there are those that even question the economic impact of removing disposable plastic from our society.....Economic concerns wont be a problem if the ocean is dead!

This voyage we plan to study a region that by all scientific predictions should be a much higher concentration that ever seen before. It is also further west than ever studied before. We are leaving on June 10th and sailing west for 2 weeks straight before reaching the sample area across the International Dateline...yes I am sailing back to the future

Thanks again for keeping this topic alive!!!
ScubaDrew

Drew,

Ahhhhhh, I understand now.

Man, o, man how I wish there was a way that I could go. I would be there on the boat with you in a sec. I don't really think the military would let me go for 1-2 months though.

 

[Plumb bob]

It wont let me view the video...

Hmmm where the link takes you has changed now.. Suffice to say that the claims that they made were the usual misleading skewed stats and pseudoscience just plausible enough to make the average folk, who through no fault of their own, (usually too busy a life or more pressing problems) are not able to verify the veracity of the claims.

I dunno, I guess there's no point wasting more time on it as it is a distraction from more positive efforts.

Here endeth the hijack!

 

[Anthony Appleyard]

About disposable plastic shopping bags: I always carry my shopping in a backpack. And it leaves my hands free while carrying it. And no opportunity for bag-snatchers.

 

[Shaka Doug]

As divers, some of you might actually care to know about this. If you haven't heard yet, there is a swirling concentration of accumulating trash in the north Pacific Ocean. It consists of millions of pieces of floating, photo-degrading (not bio-degrading...there is a huge difference) colorful plastic and it is being ingested by all kinds of oceanic filter feeders from jellyfish to whale sharks and everything in between. It is estimated that the filter feeders are getting 6 pieces of plastic for every 1 piece of plankton that they gobble up. Game fish are also attracted to the colorful little chunks and they eat them too. Fish are now being caught by fishermen with large quantities of undigested plastic in their stomachs. When plastic degrades, it breaks down into many different chemical compounds which are toxic. This in turn kills some of the fish and enters the food chain. Birds also eat the plastic and it kills them too. Carcasses of dead birds are being found on remote atolls with piles of plastic in the center of their skeletal remains. It is really shocking and disturbing. Want to read more? Want to see some proof? Want to help turn things around? Please see this thread I started in the Hawaii Ohana section of Scubaboard (probably the WRONG place to have started this thread but there it is and it's finally getting a lot of attention.)

(SIMPLY CLICK ON THE LINK):

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/hawaii-ohana/268139-pacific-trash-vortex-wow-i-had-no-idea-bad.html

Thank you for looking. Please contribute by changing the way you consume and dispose of your plastic waste. Ask your friends and coworkers to do the same. Be careful not to lose plastic dive equipment like snorkels, cameras, booties, fins, etc. when you are out on your boats and out on dives. If it floats, it could end up in the vortex someday.

Every little bit helps. Your ideas and participation in my thread is welcome.

 

[DandyDon]

Yeah, that's a horrible mess out there. I try to do what I can...

I take my own cloth bags in stores when shopping; those fly away shopping bags can wreck havoc in local farm fields as well;

I don't live near a river that could carry trash to the ocean, but I still crush and carry all of my plastic jugs & cardboard to a recyle center, use Compact Florescent Bulbs that last for years;

I avoid discarding as much as possible, and when I do - see it gets to the dumpster, securing the lid;

Try to not drop or lose anything in the sea...​

Suggestions...?

 

[ljdiver]

It's sad that the issue doesn't get much attention. Every time I read about the trash vortices it makes me think of the ocean as saying "HEY look at all this crap you've dumped into me!" Sort of a brutal reminder of human negligence. Though I can't say it's surprising considering all the junk I see right off my local beaches :depressed:

You may also want to take a look at this site that relates to the topic: http://www.ecologycenter.org/ptf/misconceptions.html

 

[Jupiter31]

This topic has been "out there" for a while now, and agree its terrible; caused in large part by discarded plastics - and its not surprising; no one seems to drink tap water any more; those plastic water bottles are a large part of the problem. Plastic just does not "break down" either on land or in the ocean.

Maybe we need to go back to the days when drinks came mostly in recyclable (SP?) glass containers and trade a little convenience for the sake of the environment. One benefit is soda, beer, milk, and yes water taste better packaged in glass. 30 years ago, glass packaging was common - now, w/ the exception of soft drinks packed in 6 packs, and some beers, you never see it.

I hate additional taxes as well as the "nanny state", but more states and communities need to institute a deposit on container to "force" recycling.

This is not going away, and it is not going to fix itself.