First windrow – Plastic, was everywhere!

The winds picked up yesterday in the afternoon and lasted throughout the night so we were not able to trawl. We drifted too far off the course and it took hours to get back where we left off.

Today we came across our first windrow – basically a patch of trash combined with Sargassum (sea grass found all over the surface of the Sargasso Sea). Trash, mainly plastic, was everywhere! We picked up a few items and then proceeded northeast towards the edge of a possible accumulation zone. We got lucky with the weather during our windrow find but just minutes after, it started blowing at over 20 knots again. I think that today’s find proves that oceans plastic pollution is a global problem and is not limited or exclusive to the North Pacific.

It was fun watching the crew getting the sails up so we can get advantage of the wind to gain some ground.

Related posts:

1. Second windrow – even more plastic
2. Plastic in a belly of a jelly fish
3. Maarten to build a giant plastic reef
4. Trip to the Hassel Island
5. Bermuda’s beautiful bays versus plastic – Part 2