In a little while, David de Rothschild, one of the world’s most desirable eco-warriors, will set sail across the Pacific Ocean on a plastic catamaran, called the Plastiki. He will be headed towards the Pacific’s largest waste dump–an area of the ocean, several thousands of kilometers wide, where the waste has literally “docked”.
He is doing this, along with a crew of six, to alert the world to this “natural” phenomenon that has been killing seabirds and fish in that area.
De Rothschild will be taking samples, photos and videos of the area to highlight the ocean’s plastic pollution issue. This landfill was created by sea currents, which take waste from California and Asia and keep them trapped in a vortex. Fish and seabirds mistake the plastic for food and choke. The albatross population has disappeared, with their stomachs full of all types of plastic waste―from toothbrushes to bottle caps, needles and syringes.
The boat, called the Plastiki―after Kon Tiki―is being built at Pier 31, in San Francisco. It will have a hull made of wooden frames and filled with 12,000 recycled plastic bottles. The cabin and sails will be made out of recycled PET. Two wind turbines and a number of solar panels will charge the 12-volt batteries that will power the onboard laptop computers, GPS and satellite phone. To build this 20-meter boat, millions of dollars have been spent. The vessel has been under construction for three years.
Although the departure has been delayed (it was supposed to coincide with Thor Heyerdahl’s), this voyage is still quite dangerous. There will be no accompanying boats–just a support team at each port of call. They will be travelling 10,500 miles from San Francisco to Hawaii, Bikini Atoll, and landing at Sydney. How will it go? As David says: “These are just unknowns. This is an adventure. If it was planned and everyone knew, no one would be interested.”
Someone needs to hurry up and introduce this cutie to our dear Amyr Klink.
De Rothschild is an interesting activist. He is rich, gorgeous and single, and uses his inherited wealth to promote environmental causes. He owns an organic farm in New Zealand and founded Adventure Ecology to encourage children’s interest in the topic.
On National Geographic’s page (in which he participates), De Rothschild says: “There is a risk in everything. But really, how hard can it be?” It can be hard, no doubt. De Rothschild is many things–heir to one of the world’s greatest fortunes, intrepid polar explorer, children’s book author, celebrity. But sailing isn’t one of his skills, a point he freely admits: “I get seasick in the bathtub.”
There are videos on YouTube and CNET, which has interviewed him. I’ve posted some on DotSub and I’m trying to get it subtitled but since today is Earth Day I’ll leave them as a complement for those who understand English.
Via National Geographic Adventure, TreeHugger, CNET
Images: David de Rothschild, on David Sifry’s Flickr, in CC; Plastiki, publicity; Pacific landfill, on TreeHugger, via nakedmaninthetree.wordpress.com
