Algalita in the News 2009
2009
KQED Quest, Amy Standen, December 8, 2009
"Scenes from the Pacific Garbage Patch"
Reporter Lindsey Hoshaw recently returned from a trip to the Pacific Garbage Patch. She was the only journalist on a scientific expedition led by Charles Moore, who discovered the patch 12 years ago. QUEST reporter Amy Standen talked to Lindsey about her trip to the patch and what she found there. >>
And the award for green cause of the year goes to . . . the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. After decades of anonymity, the floating trash pile located midway between California and Hawaii had a breakout 2009—luring news crews, a trio aboard a raft made of junk, a zero-impact rower, and some hipsters from Vice magazine. Oh, and it was featured on Oprah. But most of the coverage (even you, Oprah) failed to ask one rather important question: Now that we know it’s out there, what do we do about it? >>
The New York Times, Lindsey Hoshaw, November 9, 2009
"Afloat in the Ocean, Expanding Islands of Trash"
Aboard the Alguita, 1,000 miles northeast of Hawaii — In this remote patch of the Pacific Ocean, hundreds of miles from any national boundary, the detritus of human life is collecting in a swirling current so large that it defies precise measurement. >>
Long Beach Press Telegram, Joe Segura, October 6, 2009
"Pollution study vessel returns to Long Beach"
LONG BEACH - The ocean-research vessel Algalita and crew returned Tuesday to Alamitos Bay Landing, carrying more dismal evidence about ocean pollution. The journey - to an area known as "the great Pacific Garbage Patch" - was the 10th for Capt. Charles Moore. And his last - for now, at least. >>
DC Bureau, Adam Sarvana, September 25, 2009
"Fish and Paint Chips Part II: The Politics of Ocean Trash"
When it comes to reducing garbage in the world’s oceans, the political angle is just as important as the scientific, to judge by industry’s behavior. On Aug. 18, Seattle voters passed by a 53-47 margin a referendum to overturn a 20-cent fee approved last year by the city council for using plastic bags at supermarkets, pharmacies and convenience stores. >>
DC Bureau, Adam Sarvana, September 23, 2009
"Fish and Paint Chips Part I: The Science of Trash"
Recent research has the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) concerned that the huge quantities of metal, plastic, paint chips and other man-made debris floating at sea, hundreds and even thousands of miles from land, may be working their way into the American diet. >>
California Environmental Protection Agency, September 22, 2009
Frustrated by the growing mounds of trash found in our oceans, and the threat to jobs in fishing industries and tourism, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) and other environmental officials say it’s time for radical solutions. >>
Algalita's Commentary by Board Member John Fentis, September 22, 2009
"The Power of Partnerships and Green Chemistry to Solve Ocean Pollution"
I have been asked to provide some commentary today on what we as individuals can do to address this environmental concern. If the answer was simply to discourage individuals, either by logic or draconian enforcement measures, from depositing one time disposable plastic products into our planet’s oceans, I could sit down and my commentary would be at an end. The solution is not that simple. >>
Ocean Trash & Green Chemistry Video >>
The Huffington Post, Laurie David, July 31, 2009
"Day 51 of Algalita's Oceanographic Research Vessel Expedition: A Letter From Captain Charles Moore"
The field work has been completed and in his final email from this journey, Captain Moore shares his thoughts with us. . >>
The Huffington Post, Laurie David, July 16, 2009
"Day 34 of Algalita's Oceanographic Research Vessel Expedition: A Letter From Captain Charles Moore"
Day 34 has brought the Alguita to the International Dateline! In the email below, the crew reports on their very interesting day full of sightings, plastic debris findings and unique ways to pass the time at sea. >>
Welcome Aboard JUNK - a kontiki-style raft that sailed between Long Beach, California and Honolulu, Hawaii during the summer of 2008. Onboard and on-mission were Dr. Marcus Erikson and Joel Paschal of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation. The reason? To raise awareness about plastic in our oceans. >>
Sierra Magazine, David Ferris, May/June 2009 Issue
"Message in a Bottle"
Seabirds are starving with bellies full of trash. Fur seals in New Zealand poop shards of yellow and blue. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is twice the size of Texas. Now the bad news: Plastic never goes away, and scientists are finding that it absorbs toxins with spongelike efficiency. The fix? Cut it off at the source. >>
Patagonia Catalogue Surf 2009, Nicole Chatterson
What we do on land affects even the most remote parts of our planet including our oceans. In the North Pacific Gyre, a rotating body of ocean currents roughly 1,000 nautical miles northeast of the Hawaiian Islands, the magnitude of human impact is powerfully clear. Trash, notably plastic waste, is accumulating here and turning our oceans into a synthetic soup. Everything from tiny plastic fragments to fully intact car tires litter the water column. >>
The Daily Telegraph, April 24, 2009
"Drowning in plastic: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is twice the size of France"
There are now 46,000 pieces of plastic per square kilometre of the world's oceans, killing a million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals each year. Worse still, there seems to be nothing we can do to clean it up. So how do we turn the tide? >>
Green Patriot Radio, March 29, 2009
Hello green patriots, eco warriors, environmental wannabes, Republicans, Democrats, global warming zealots and skeptics--you're all welcome here. Here's where we take out lives to the deep green because we know that environmental policies determine a nation's fate. What we talk about here is absolutely essential to our nation. We go from the personal to the global. >>
Wall Street Journal, Carl Bialik, March 25, 2009
"How Big Is That Widening Gyre of Floating Plastic?"
A soup of plastic debris floats off the coast of California, a testament to humanity's reliance on plastic and the failure to dispose of it properly.
Just how big is this oceanic zone? Some say it is about the size of Quebec, or 600,000 square miles -- also described as twice the size of Texas. Others say this expanse of junk swept together by currents is the size of the U.S. -- 3.8 million square miles. Or, it could be twice that size. >>
The Japan Times, Winifred Bird, March 22, 2009
"Oceans awash in toxic seas of plastic"
Go down to the beach today and you'll find plenty of garbage among the sand — but that's nothing compared with the continent-sized whirlpools of lethal waste out there beyond the horizon. >>
Earth Island Journal, Spring 2009
"Captain Charles Moore...Talks Trash"
In talking to Captain Moore, it becomes clear that the pollution of our oceans, epitomized by the patch’s toxic stew of plastic particles, is actually a land-based problem. To Moore, what drives the market and what runs off the street into our oceans are part of the same problem. >>
Capt. Charles Moore on the seas of plastic
Capt. Charles Moore of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation first discovered the Great Pacific Garbage Patch -- an endless floating waste of plastic trash. Now he's drawing attention to the growing, choking problem of plastic debris in our seas. >>
Good Morning America, February 4, 2009
Sam Champion follows the trash trail right back into your home. >>
Algalita in the News 2008 Archive >>
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