Well, the floating piece of plastic I mentioned in my last post turned out to be a yellow crate with Korean writing on it. I heard Bill yelling about it just as I was sitting in the galley about to update the blog.
As soon as I heard, “we’ve found something,” I ran onto the stern and realized it was time to gear up. I grabbed my camera, put it in the underwater housing and suited up with my snorkel, fins, weight belt and mask.
Bill hopped in with his video camera and I eased in with my camera and it’s underwater housing.
It was so incredible to see the crate underwater. Millions of tiny barnacles were stuck on every inch and a school of tropical fish swam underneath.
There was a white fish with a thick black line across it’s eye and a greenish yellow fish and another black fish with white polka-dots. Anywhere the crate went the fish followed-just like the rope we found yesterday.
A basket that was found in the middle of the Ocean near the Pacific Garbage Patch. Photo by Jeff Ernst
Bill was fascinated by the fish and captured footage of the school swimming in and out of the crate, which hovered near the surface. I left myself sink down, took a few photos and then swam back up for air. After half an hour I was exhausted. Keeping myself from sinking had been more draining than I thought.
Moore and Jeff dove in after Bill and I got out and caught the fish that were in the crate before bringing them onboard.
Gwen dumped them into a bucket and then took them out one by one to measure them, seal them in tinfoil and pack them up for the lab. Once she’s back in Long Beach she will cut them open to see if they’ve consumed any plastic particles.
Gwen dumped them into a bucket and then took them out one by one to measure them, seal them in tinfoil and pack them up for the lab. Once she’s back in Long Beach she will cut them open to see if they’ve consumed any plastic particles. Photo by Jeff Ernst
It was an exciting day. We’re hoping for another great day tomorrow as we idle in calm winds and still waters waiting to see more garbage.
