Flag #25 to cross the South Pacific on the 5Gyres fifth expedition to study plastic pollution

WINGS 2011 Sea Award winner, Anna Cummins, is heading back out to sea for the final leg of the 5Gyres Institute's study of ocean plastic pollution on the 5 subtropical gyres. The expedition, scheduled to launch in four days on March 19th, will conclude the most extensive study of plastic pollution ever undertaken. 

The crew, lead by Dr. Marcus Eriksen and Anna Cummins of Santa Monica, CA will sail over 2,000 miles from Valdivia, Chile, zig-zagging through the South Pacific Gyre to arrive at Easter Island on April 7. Little data on plastic in this region exists. The researchers however expect to find the same kind of plastic pollution - known to harm marine life, fisheries, and possibly threaten human health - that they appear to have have found in every sample they've taken while sailing through 20,000 miles in the North Pacific, North Atlantic, South Atlantic, and Indian Ocean Gyres. No other such researchers have sailed through all of the world's five subtropical gyres.

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5Gyres Blog

WINGS Expedition Blog

WINGS Fellow Edie Widder to Speak at TED2011: The Rediscovery of Wonder

Back by popular demand!  Edie Widder returns to the TED symposium this March to spark the minds and imaginations of people around the world with her insights on rediscovering the wonder of our waters.  

Her entertaining and informative talk on marine bioluminescence last year was a resounding success with over a quarter of million on-line viewings in the months following her presentation.  If you haven't seen it, take a look:

Edie at TED2010: Glowing Life in an Underwater World

Mission Blue

WINGS Fellow, Sylvia Earle also made an historic splash at last year's TED Talks when she won the TEDPrize, and as a result created Mission Blue.

Sylvia Earle’s Wish

I wish you would use all means at your disposal — films! expeditions! the web! more! — to ignite public support for a global network of marine protected areas, hope spots large enough to save and restore the ocean, the blue heart of the planet.

Mission Blue

Mission Blue exists to heal and protect the earth’s oceans through the creation and management of essential marine protected areas – what we call hope spots. It’s vision is to ignite public education and support for a global network of these ocean hope spots – large enough to save and restore our planet’s blue heart.

From April 6-10, the Mission Blue Voyage, a collaboration between Sylvia Earle and TED, took place in the Galapagos Islands. Over 100 esteemed guests and twenty-five inspiring speakers participated to help draw public attention to the urgent need for ocean protection.  Edie and Sylvia have joined together is this endeavor, which is certain to change the way we look at and manage our ocean's.  Take the Mission Blue Voyage link to explore the future of our ocean's!

Related Sites and Blogs:

ORCA, Ocean Resreach & Conservation Association; Edie's Organization

The Sylvia Earle Alliance (SEA)/The Sylvia Earle Foundation

Protect Planet Ocean

Mission Blue; National Geographic