March 31, 2010

Plastiki






I am here to tell you about a new thing called Plastiki. But before that, I have to tell you a small story. During the 1950's and 60's, there were a group of scientists who theorized that early man might have populated the continents by using rafts to sail across the ocean. To prove it, the scientists built a raft out of wood and sailed around the world.The experiment didn't actually prove anything, but it showed that the theory was possible. It was called Kontiki. Now, almost 60 years later, a team of scientists, adventurers and journalists have constructed a 60 foot long catamaran out of plastic bottles. It's known as Plastiki. Their ambitious plan is to use this catamaran to spread awareness about what we are doing to the oceans. Their first stop after leaving San Francisco was the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It is a final stop for all oceanic 
garbage riding the currents, and right now it's bigger than the United States. Their goal, as I said before, is to spread awareness that there is a mass of garbage out there right now which is nearing the size of Canada. If we stop polluting, that thing won't grow smaller, but we can focus all our power the destroy the Patch instead of worrying that it will get bigger. They will also  stop at several sites of ecological importance that are being affected by global warming and the Patch. Islands such as Hawaii, which is the closest US state to the Garbage Patch. Midway, whose spectacular coral reefs and historical WWII shipwrecks are threatened by the large amounts of garbage that breaks loose from the Patch and float into its waters. The British skipper of the vessel, Captain David De Rothschild, says it is a fun and a media-
attracting venture since to spread awareness today you need the media on hand to broadcast everything you say. In my opinion, Plastiki, you have my full support. I think that this is a great way to show the world what exactly it is they are doing to our beautiful oceans, and that there is a simple answer to it. Unite and stop polluting.

3 comments:

Marta Madigan said...

Dear Madhav,
Could you give me the source link for the map (Plastiki itinerary)?
Thanks!
Marta

Michael said...

Nice work on this, Madhav. I like how you linked the past, Kontiki, with the present, Plastiki.

Their mission must be doubly important to you, because you use the ocean so much for your recreation, diving, eh?

Again, nice post.

mh

Ocean Lover said...

Dear Marta,

Here is he source link. If this is not what you want you can Search on Google. Please let me know who you are.

http://images.google.co.id/imgres?imgurl=http://vtsenvirogroup.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/plastiki-map.jpg&imgrefurl=http://vtsenvirogroup.wordpress.com/page/2/&usg=__ZMIt0qcZ0T2f3L_6EwTlbdFYFEA=&h=411&w=615&sz=95&hl=en&start=16&itbs=1&tbnid=JEJvBBAKLid0aM:&tbnh=91&tbnw=136&prev=/images%3Fq%3DPlastiki%26hl%3Den%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1

Thanks, Madhav