In the Atlantic, we have the Sargasso Sea. Is there a similar Gyre in the north Pacific where floating debris accumulates for endless decades? I have heard comments from trans-pacific sailors about the endless miles of floating junk they have encountered. Chuck Sutherland *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
There was an article in the local paper about an area of the Pacific Ocean that traps lots of plastic items. Not exactly a Bermuda triangle, but more like a gigantic floating trash can. BRC Quoting skimmer <skimmer_at_enter.net>: > In the Atlantic, we have the Sargasso Sea. Is there a similar Gyre > in the north Pacific where floating debris accumulates for endless > decades? I have heard comments from trans-pacific sailors about > the endless miles of floating junk they have encountered. > > Chuck Sutherland *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
"Sailing the seas of trash" "The trash was found in a patch of ocean called the North Pacific Gyre where the currents can trap floating debris for years." http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/06/eveningnews/main591770.shtml skimmer wrote: >In the Atlantic, we have the Sargasso Sea. Is there a similar Gyre >in the north Pacific where floating debris accumulates for endless >decades? I have heard comments from trans-pacific sailors about >the endless miles of floating junk they have encountered. > >Chuck Sutherland *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
On Tue, Dec 9, 2008 at 6:08 AM, skimmer <skimmer_at_enter.net> wrote: > In the Atlantic, we have the Sargasso Sea. Is there a similar Gyre > in the north Pacific where floating debris accumulates for endless > decades? I have heard comments from trans-pacific sailors about > the endless miles of floating junk they have encountered. > > Yes, there certainly is. Here is a link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_Garbage_Patch There have been a few documentaries about a guy who goes out to the patch in his trawler but almost none of them talk about the garbage as coming from ships. The ones I've watched assume that all the garbage comes from land-based sources. I'm a bit skeptical of the statistic that 80% comes from land-based sources, actually (as claimed in the Wikipedia article). It's not uncommon for container ships to lose quite a few of their containers on a trip across from Asia to the North American ports. I suspect that most of the garbage comes from those. However, ships at sea can also simply throw their trash overboard. They are supposed to weight the plastic bags down so they sink but I have no doubt that many ships ignore that. Anyway, for what it's worth, there are now two documented trashpits in the northern oceans. I suspect there is something in the southern ocean too. Craig Jungers Moses Lake, WA *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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