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Ocean Voyages Institute founder commits to removing 1 million pounds of plastic from the ocean

4 min read

Sustainable Planet
Ocean Voyages Institute founder commits to removing 1 million pounds of plastic from the ocean
Source: oceanvoyagesinstitute.org

A record-breaking season has prompted non-profit group Ocean Voyages Institute to raise the bar on their open ocean clean-up operations after pulling 340,000 pounds of plastic waste from Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

Over 150 tons of ghost nets and plastic debris removed from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Ocean Voyages Institute’s marine plastic recovery vessel, S/V KWAI, docked in Honolulu on Wednesday 5 August, after 35 days at sea, successfully concluding the second and final haul of the non-profit group’s 2020 open ocean recovery mission, adding 60.7 metric tons to the record-setting 93.4 metric tons (206,000 pounds) removed in June, which became the largest open ocean clean-up in history. The non-profit group’s total for the summer season now amounts to 154.22 metric tons (340,000 pounds) of ghost nets and plastic debris removed from the North Pacific Gyre (Great Pacific Garbage Patch), a staggering amount, which quadruples the group’s previous year’s record.

“With plastic set to outnumber fish by 2040, we humans are responsible for the oceans collapsing in my lifetime, and we must set ambitious targets to tackle the problem of plastic in the ocean,” continuing, “even with our record-setting clean-up, I know we need to do more, and our 1 million pound goal is my commitment to the essential undertaking of cleaning the oceans of plastic.”
Ocean Voyages Institute’s Founder and Executive Director Mary T. Crowley says her group’s efforts are just getting started. “With plastic set to outnumber fish by 2040, we humans are responsible for the oceans collapsing in my lifetime, and we must set ambitious targets to tackle the problem of plastic in the ocean,” continuing, “even with our record-setting clean-up, I know we need to do more, and our 1 million pound goal is my commitment to the essential undertaking of cleaning the oceans of plastic.” Source: oceanvoyagesinstitute.org

Ocean Voyages Institute’s Founder says non-profit group are “are on a roll”

Ocean Voyages Institute’s Founder and Executive Director Mary T. Crowley states her group’s efforts are just getting started. “With plastic set to outnumber fish by 2040, we humans are responsible for the oceans collapsing in my lifetime, and we must set ambitious targets to tackle the problem of plastic in the ocean,” continuing, “even with our record-setting clean-up, I know we need to do more, and our 1 million pound goal is my commitment to the essential undertaking of cleaning the oceans of plastic.”

Ocean Voyages Institute’s high seas clean-up expedition began in May, with a 48-day mission, followed by a second 35-day leg which departed on July 1st, with the KWAI logging more than 5000 nautical miles from Hawaii to the Pacific Gyre and back twice this summer.

This week in Honolulu, Ocean Voyages Institute crew returned with a cargo hold full of ghost fishing nets and toxic plastic debris for the second time this summer. While docked in Honolulu, the ship’s crew will sort the debris into various types of plastics for upcycling and recycling with help from local volunteer groups.

“This summer definitely had its challenges, from COVID-19 and having to quarantine our hard-working crew, to almost not being able to depart on the second leg of our mission due to funding gaps,” added Crowley. “Now I feel like we are on a roll, and the support from around the world has been so encouraging, I know we will reach our million pound goal and keep going cleaning our oceans and encouraging major changes in the use of plastics.”

Source: OceanVoyagesInstitute

Ocean Voyages Institute’s high seas clean-up expedition began in May, with a 48-day mission, followed by a second 35-day leg which departed on July 1st, with the KWAI logging more than 5000 nautical miles from Hawaii to the Pacific Gyre and back twice this summer.
Recovered nets and consumer plastic on the deck of S/V Kwai. Ocean Voyages Institute’s high seas clean-up expedition began in May, with a 48-day mission, followed by a second 35-day leg which departed on July 1st, with the KWAI logging more than 5000 nautical miles from Hawaii to the Pacific Gyre and back twice this summer. Source: oceanvoyagesinstitute.org
This week in Honolulu, Ocean Voyages Institute crew returned with a cargo hold full of ghost fishing nets and toxic plastic debris for the second time this summer. While docked in Honolulu, the ship’s crew will sort the debris into various types of plastics for upcycling and recycling with help from local volunteer groups.
S/V Kwai crew remove a GPS-enabled satellite tracker from a ghost net in the Gyre. This week in Honolulu, Ocean Voyages Institute crew returned with a cargo hold full of ghost fishing nets and toxic plastic debris for the second time this summer. While docked in Honolulu, the ship’s crew will sort the debris into various types of plastics for upcycling and recycling with help from local volunteer groups. Source: oceanvoyagesinstitute.org
“This summer definitely had its challenges, from COVID-19 and having to quarantine our hard-working crew, to almost not being able to depart on the second leg of our mission due to funding gaps,” said Crowley. “Now I feel like we are on a roll, and the support from around the world has been so encouraging, I know we will reach our million pound goal and keep going cleaning our oceans and encouraging major changes in the use of plastics.”
S/V Kwan crew prepare ghost net for retrieval. “This summer definitely had its challenges, from COVID-19 and having to quarantine our hard-working crew, to almost not being able to depart on the second leg of our mission due to funding gaps,” said Crowley. “Now I feel like we are on a roll, and the support from around the world has been so encouraging, I know we will reach our million pound goal and keep going cleaning our oceans and encouraging major changes in the use of plastics.” Source: oceanvoyagesinstitute.org
Ocean Voyages Institute made history in June after successfully removing 103 tons of fishing nets and consumer plastics from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. On Tuesday 23 June, the Ocean Voyages Institute pulled into Pier 29 in Honolulu with more than 100 tons of marine trash hauled from the middle of the Pacific Ocean, a mission completed despite the ongoing pandemic. Crews unloaded the trash — 103 tons of it — from the ship, heralding it as a record amount ever to be collected from within the depths and surface of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Source: Facebook/BrightVibes
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Ocean Voyages Institute (OVI) is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization founded in 1979 by a group of international sailors, educators, and conservationists with a mission of teaching maritime arts and sciences and preserving the world’s oceans. Ocean Voyages Institute’s Board of Directors and volunteers have extensive experience designing and conducting ocean research projects and sailing education programs.