This weekend, Anna C. of the blog BYOTalk and I will both be in Hawaii. I’ll be in Waikiki kicking back for a few days visiting my parents and getting my blowdryer fixed. No big deal. I’ll continue to blog while I’m away, and I’ll be back on Tuesday.
Anna, on the other hand, will be joining the crew of the Alguita oceanographic research vessel in Hilo for a month-long trip to the North Pacific Gyre to study marine debris concentrations. This is the area of the “Pacific Garbage Patch,” which I’m sure most of you have heard about by now. (If not, please read the article, Plastic Ocean.)
This will be the 8th voyage for the Alguita, and this time the crew plans to “venture further west than ever before, investigating possible concentrations North of Hawaii, and just East of the International Date Line. 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.”
That quote was taken from the expedition’s blog, http://orvalguita.blogspot.com, which will be updated with posts and images during the coming month. I’ve posted a link to it on my sidebar, and I encourage those who are interested to track the progress of this voyage to find out just what plastic is doing to our oceans.
I have to admit, I’m really envious of Anna and the crew. I’d love to be going out there to see for myself. But in a phone conversation a few days ago, Anna told me that the seas are predicted to be very rough and the trip challenging. I’ll look forward to experiencing the journey vicariously through the blog, and I hope you will too.
