Dutch group says it will soon start cleaning up ocean trash

[Judi Lynn]

Mike Corder, Associated Press
Updated 8:47 pm, Thursday, May 11, 2017


UTRECHT, Netherlands (AP) — A Dutch foundation aiming to rid the world's oceans of plastic waste says it will start cleaning up the huge area of floating junk known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch within the next 12 months, two years earlier than planned.

The Ocean Cleanup aims to use long-distance floating booms that act like coastlines to gather plastic as it drifts on or near the surface of the water while allowing sea life to pass underneath. The plan originally was to anchor the barriers to the sea bed with a system used by oil rigs, but the organization said Thursday it now will use anchors that float beneath the water's surface, making it much more efficient.
 
The Ocean Cleanup, founded by Dutch university dropout Boyan Slat, announced that testing of the first system will start off the U.S. West coast by the end of the year and barriers will be shipped to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch between California and Hawaii in the first half of 2018, two years ahead of the organization's earlier schedule. The patch is a huge area of the ocean where swirling currents concentrate the trash.
 
"At the ocean cleanup we always work with nature. So instead of going after the plastic, we let the plastic come to us, saving time, energy and cost," Slat, a shaggy-haired 22-year-old, told The Associated Press.

More:
http://www.chron.com/business/technology/article/Dutch-group-says-it-will-soon-start-cleaning-up-11139456.php

[democratisphere]

1. Good thing there are other countries that care about the environment.

[Afromania]

2. This may be the only country in the world that has people actively (knowingly) making it worse.

[democratisphere]

4. Sadly we are making it a lot worse.

[OnlinePoker]

3. I like the effort but will be surprised if it works

I've sailed the north Pacific in the navy and those waters can be mighty unforgiving. When this was first proposed a couple of years ago, I couldn't see how the booms wouldn't be ripped apart in the massive waves and swells you get out there. I still can't.

[kristopher]

5. Did you ever read Kon Tiki?

Movie is great also.

A central, counter-intuitive point was that the behavior on high seas of a structure like a large raft deals with the forces present in a very different manner than a boat hull.

It looks pretty elegant to me.
https://www.theoceancleanup.com/technology/

[hatrack]

6. Curious as to the scale of the netting - would it also take up plankton, fish larvae, krill, etc?

Great idea, and God knows somebody needs to get on this, but unintended consequences and all that . . .