Neptune’s plastic patch – news from the vortex

Photo by myecoaction.com

I’ve mentioned my predilection for open water swimming.  I grew up in West Los Angeles, and in the permissive 1970s, with far more autonomy than kids today are afforded, my best friend Frankie and I would frequently take the #3 bus from his home on Montana Ave. down to the beach during the summer.  We spent hours in the surf, boogie boarding and body surfing.  Later on, Frankie became proficient on a surfboard, while I excelled as a freestyle skateboarder (my proudest moment was taking 5^th place in the annual Bay street freestyle competition in 1978).  Frankie went on to become a professional diver, and while my professional career has never directly involved the ocean, my jobs over the last 15 years have kept me close to some of the eminently swimmable bodies of water in the Puget Sound region – notably Lake Washington, Lake Sammamish, and Lake Union. 

Since I have a bee in my bonnet about garbage, and a fondness for the feeling of cool water and goose poop sliding over my skin, the thought of garbage in the water chaps, as they say, my speedo-covered ass.

I’ve rescued floating debris from a watery grave, as reported in this very blog.  I’ve braved muddy banks to retrieve things as large as a 5 gallon bucket and as small as a cigarette butt.  I’ve waded into the frigid waters of Puget sound for Styrofoam and other pollutants.  Yes, I’m mildly obsessed – thanks for your concern.

Imagine my surprise to find out recently about a global ecological calamity involving garbage in the ocean.  It’s new to me, and I suspect, new to you as well.  I’m talking about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, aka the Pacific Trash Vortex.

The patch was originally theorized by NOAA in 1988, and discovered 9 years later by oceanographer Charles Moore (here’s his TED talk on the topic).  The patch is created by ocean currents which funnel flotsam into the North Pacific Gyre, whence it cannot escape.  The materials, largely plastics, degrade here midocean, and enter the food chain.  Toxins introduced this way can cause sickness or death in marine animals, disrupt normal hormone patterns, and eventually find their way into seafood and back into our lives. 

How can we help?  Well, one way may be to participate in International Coastal Cleanup Day, sponsored by the Ocean Conservancy – it occurred on September 21 this year.  Or, you may choose to support companies such as Electrolux or Method, which are committing to creating products made from plastic collected from  the vortex.

Better yet, if you live on or near the coast, make a point to swing by the beach to rescue one or more pieces of floating debris from in or near the water.  Every piece you keep out of an ocean, lake, or stream minimizes the opportunity for that bottle or bag to become toxic sludge in your next order of sushi.  Think about it, and act – one piece a day is a small price to pay to preserve clean water and healthy food for posterity.