2010 Indian Ocean Gyre Expedition
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Perth, Australia to Port Louis, Mauritius
March 16 - April 4, 2010
Trawling Down Under to Africa
On March 16, Anna Cummins and Marcus Eriksen of 5 Gyres joined the VPRO Dutch Television's project
VPRO Beagle aboard the clipper ship Stad Amsterdam.
This international project began retracing Darwin's
5-year long voyage on the HMS Beagle in September 2009 and is expected to go through
Trawl sample #12, two days before arrival in Mauritius..
June of 2010. The goal of this project is to attempt to assess present day global status in view of Darwin's evolution theory. As he pondered the origin of species, the focus of VPRO Beagle is on the future of species.
The 5 Gyres Project, part of the partnership between Algalita Marine Research Foundation and Livable Legacy, was invited on the Indian Ocean leg of the voyage to give Cummins and Eriksen an opportunity to collect research samples as the vessel crossed the Indian Ocean Gyre. The voyage departed Perth, Australia
on March 16, 2010 and ended in Port Louis, Mauritius on April 4, 2010.
Is there plastic in the Indian Ocean Gyre? The answer is, sadly, yes. Plastic was found in all 12 trawl samples taken by 5 Gyres. Other questions remain. How much plastic is in this gyre? What impact does the plastic have on the marine life and ecosystems? Certainly more questions will be raised as our research continues.
Sample analysis, which is the next phase of the project, will commence pending funding. Efforts to raise funds for analysis of these scientifically-valuable samples is ongoing.
More about Algalita and 5 Gyres >>
Marcus and Anna on the Stad Amsterdam, preparing to trawl
at night.
