Brits Bash Bottles!

...well, and all oceanic plastics, for that matter. And rightly so, as oceanic trash does not respect international boundaries! Two gob-smacking articles from UK periodicals this week detail 1) a Telegraph piece detailing the Pacific Gyre trash problem, and 2) a BBC item describing the rising level of plastic detritus washing up on the shores of the British Isles.

The Telegraph article is kind of old news about the gyre overall, but worth the read and associated Euro-perspective, for sure. And frankly, all continued drumbeats on the garbage patch problem help dispel the "urban legend" that still hangs above this phenom in some quarters. ...and just so ya know, the Atlantic Gyre is growing just as rapidly...check this slide show out, and see image #7 for Algalita/5Gyres' Marcus and Anna sporting Portland, Oregon Surfrider shirts, while showing off Atlantic Ocean plastic trash.

As for UK beach trash, the BBC article details stats from Marine Conservation Society's ("MCS" - send one of their beach trash e-cards) shore cleanups that boast 63% plastics (lucky them, we are finding 74% plastics here in So Cal beach cleans). In addition to listing a "joke severed finger and a set of vampire teeth" (I thought they spelt it "vampyre" there, oh well) - the article repeats the assertion that "Ultimately, plastic litter may be providing a new method for these chemicals [persistent organic pollutants absorbed by oceanic plastics] to be passed up the food chain to human consumers." Sushi is so...nineties.

Good news that this info is still getting out there via major outlets, bad news that it still has to get out there...absobloodylutely!

Upward & Onward...and of course, Cheerio!

5 Gyres - Stiv Wilson Update #1

Stiv Wilson, Surfrider "Ambassador", Portland (Oregon) activist, and Wend Magazine editor, is traveling with Anna Cummins and Marcus Eriksen (yes, of Algalita, JunkRide AND Junk Raft fame!) on their Atlantic leg of the 5 Gyres quest for sea-going plastic waste.

Starting near Bermuda's infamous triangle, they are sailing northward to study plastic waste accumulations in areas other than the now-well-documented North Pacific Gyre.

Stiv is slated to issue periodic updates during the trip, and this first one comes to us as a link to the dispatch on the Wend Mag website. Just looking at the above photo tells part of the story...be sure to read the rest - and stay tuned for more updates as the voyage continues...

As the olde saying goes: "I know of a cure for everything: salt water... Sweat, tears, or the salt sea." AAAARRrrrggghh!