The latest expedition to the North Pacific Gyre—home of the Garbage Patch—kicks off later today when the Ocean Research Vessel (ORV) Alguita sets sail from Hilo, Hawaii. Captain Charles Moore, who I wrote about in TRACKING TRASH, will lead his crew to the furthest edges of the gyre in search of plastic debris.
Based on the information provided by air-based trash-tracking scientists (you can read about Tim Veenstra and his colleagues in TRACKING TRASH, too), Charles and his crew are headed for the western edge of the gyre. “It may be that the areas of the North Pacific Gyre with the highest concentrations of marine debris have yet to be seen or studied.”
More information can be found on the ship’s blog.
Science teachers interested in following the mission with their classes and hearing results “hot off the gyre” should contact Holly Gray, ORV Alguita Vessel Support Coordinator, who can tell you more about the Ship-2-Shore Education Program. Reach Holly by email at vesselsupport(at)algalita(dot)org.