Jon T. Howard North Atlantic Gyre Blog #27

I headed to the airport before the crack of dawn on Thursday January 21st. After making my way through customs, I departed Bermuda in route to Miami just as the sun was rising to begin a long day of travel back to Los Angeles. As the American Airlines plane lifted into the new day I could see the Sea Dragon docked in the bay and I was suddenly hit with the reality that I was heading home. It was a great trip of scientific discovery, new friendships and truly an experience of a lifetime. I realized during my flight as I started to wade through some of the photos and video I had shot that my work was just beginning. In all I shot about 10 hours of video that I will need to edit and at least 2000 photos that I plan to use for exposure in the press and media to bring more awareness to the situation. I am also planning on making some educational videos and a power point presentation to use at schools. I feel honored that EcoUsable http://www.ecousable.com/ believed it was important for me to be apart of this exploration voyage so I could be a first hand witness to damage the plastic pollution is having in the North Atlantic Gyre. After 9 hours of flying, I was greeted by the heaviest rain Los Angeles has had in years. As I shot pictures during our final approach into LAX of the swollen LA River and storm drains flowing to the Pacific Ocean I couldn't help but be deeply sad. All the bottle caps, milk jug rings, lighters, deodarant balls and the shot gun shell I had seen over the last 2 weeks in the Atlantic Gyre all begins on land somewhere. It gets washed out to sea and since plastic was made to last forever it floats on an endless journey around the world slowly breaking down. Along the way it becomes a million times more absorbent and leaches with things like pesticides, mercury and the toxic chemicals we've recklessly dumped in the ocean. Eventually it breaks down small enough to become food for the fish, turtles and birds which unfortunately then comes back to haunt us as part of our food chain. If I learned anything on this amazing trip it's that we must break the chain of plastic... NOW!

Jon T. Howard North Atlantic Gyre Blog #26

I've been spending the last the few days getting caught up in Bermuda and staying active with the Sea Dragon crew working on various projects. I got in a good long run along the coast which was absolutely picturesque. I also checked out some old forts and even collected 16 bottles for my Running For Mother Nature Campaign. It doesn't matter where I run there are always bottles and cans along the way. Yesterday I had finally had access to a computer long enough to add some photos to the past blogs so please check them out when you get a chance. I will be adding video once I get back stateside in the next few days. Last night we invited some of our gracious hosts from Bermuda to a big crew BBQ with some local Speckled Hind fish, polenta and cold beer from Portugal. We all finally had a moment to really relax and just hang out for a while. This morning we were picked up early by a local dive expert named JP Skinner who is from the Bermuda Institute of Oceanograhpy. We all loaded unto his fishing boat with our wetsuits (http://www.bodyglove.com/) and snorkling gear and headed out to a ship called the Spirit of Bermuda to speak with some school children about our North Atlantic Gyre voyage and mission. Every 13 year old in Bermuda attends the program where they live on the boat for a week, learn about sailing, and go snorkeling to explore their local world class reefs and sunken ships. I told them how lucky they were to live in such a beautiful place and how important it was to help preserve it. I showed them my EcoUsable bottle and encouraged them all to use stainless steel bottles. It was great to see a few kids already using their own stainless steel bottles. Marcus spoke to them about the harmful affects plastic have on the marine life and how it all eventually leads back to us when the fish eat the plastics. After that we joined them for some snorkeling at a reef off Non Such Island and then checked out a huge sunken ship from World War Two that was full of colorful fish and quite a sight to see. The sad part about it all was there was so much plastic washed up on Non Such Island which has come from all over the world via the North Atlantic Ocean Gyre. We also picked up some plastic in the bay on our way back to the Sea Dragon. What can I say, there is plastic everywhere it shouldn't be these days and unfortunately plastic is made to last forever. We must do something about it... now!

Jon T. Howard North Atlantic Gyre Blog #25

We reached landfall at approximately 8:30 am on 1/17/2010... It was a beautiful serene sunrise with very calm conditions as the Sea Dragon cruised into the port of Bermunda. After 9 days out in the North Atlantic Ocean it was great to step off the boat and feel the ground again though I must admit I really always felt extremely comfortable on the boat regardless of conditions. We were allowed to go take a walk around the town of St. George to grab some breakfast and coffee but expected to be back to the Sea Dragon to do a complete cleaning of the boat. Sightseeing would have to wait until later. It is amazing how dirty it got but with 9 people living in very tight quarters for the last 12 it was hardly shocking. Everyone was assigned a cleaning duty and off we went like bees to get it all done. I was in charge of wiping all white surfaces and rinsing the deck after we all scrubbed it with soap and brushes. The great thing about our captain Clive Cosby www.highperformancedevelopment.co.uk/teamprofiles/clive_cosby.php is since he completed the world's toughest yaht race, the around the world Global Challenge http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Challenge in 2004, he has been a team builder and trainer for corporations and companies so he really focuses on us working together to make the boat run smooth. Everyone had to pull their weight no matter what which is best considering all the conditions you encounter out at sea. After we finished cleaning we all dispersed for some R&R and to find some French Fries and cold beers...

Jon T. Howard North Atlantic Gyre Blog #24

It is a calm beautiful night and even though it is cool up on deck, the stars are crystal clear and it feels very exhilarating to take it all in. We are listening to some Bob Marley and are just beginning to see the glow of Bermuda far off in the distance on the Sea Dragon’s port side. This is our 8^th day out in the North Atlantic Gyre and it has been a very productive day of gathering evidence of plastic pollution. The further north we have trawled the more plastic we have continued to find. We are now about 50 miles south of Bermuda and planning on arriving there around 8 am on Sunday January 17^th. We spent today doing 3 hour trawls every 50 miles with Anna and Marcus’s goal of getting 20 completed by the time we reach Bermuda. Along the way we happened upon another large Windrow where the Sargasso Sea weed was very dense and there was plastic mixed in throughout everywhere we could see. Large, small and tiny pieces of plastic every shape and color were fished out while we filmed and photographed the pollution to document it as best as we were able. As successful as we feel to have found the debris we are all saddened by its first hand truth. I can only hope that the more www.EcoUsable.com, www.5Gyres.org, www.Algalita.org, www.panexplore.com and www.BlueTurtle.com work to bring attention to this issue with research the more the world will realize we must find better solutions to this serious problem. We are all very excited to be on land and after regrouping in Bermuda for a few days I will be heading back to Los Angeles on January 21st. The Sea Dragon will leave for its next leg January 28^th and head across the North Atlantic to the Azores as they continue to study different parts of the North Atlantic Gyre.

Jon T. Howard North Atlantic Gyre Blog #23

I spent last night’s shift completely layered up with fleece and covered with my foul weather gear from head to toe. We were using the engine to push north due to the winds being so unfavorable. The winds were 20-30 knots from the north creating conditions that forced us to head directly into the swells. The Sea Dragon usually rocks side to side but we spent 12 hours through the night consistently rocking forward to back which caused quite a few of the crew to get sick. The temperature has dropped considerably in the last few days and it was a cold crisp night for stargazing. Waves breaking over the bow provided a constant spray of salty sea water that you never quite get used to. Staying warm and dry are the keys because even though the conditions were pretty poor I really enjoyed being up on deck. The first mate, John Wright, and I had a constellation chart we used to pass the hours while we pounded through the night. It is a very exile rating feeling unlike anything I have ever experienced. We have definitely changed course and will not be able to get to the main section of the gyre we were heading to due to the approaching weather towards Bermuda. Our captain Clive Cosby made the decision late yesterday for the safety of us all and they have decided to trawl that area once they leave Bermuda heading towards the Azores. Other than that, everyone is already making plans for an iced cold beer and some French fries once we hit land…

Jon T. Howard North Atlantic Gyre Blog #22

Our shift ended at 2 am and we headed to bed to get 4 hours sleep before our 6 am – 6 hour shift was set to begin. The North Atlantic was still tossing the Sea Dragon around mercilessly and I didn’t get the best sleep. The great thing about the 6am –Noon shift is you get to watch the sun rise which from an ocean view is very majestic. Once we had the light of day, it was great to ride the swells sailing full steam ahead. Around 9 am we had our first dolphin sighting as a group of them swam with the ship crisscrossing from side to side surfing in our wake.. One of them even leapt out of the ocean right along the side of the Sea Dragon. Amazing! Late in the morning we had another encounter with another tanker/freighter ship but the closest it came was about 3 miles. That still looks really close after not seeing anything but a few birds for days. Due to the heavy swell conditions we will not be trawling today but pushing North because we are trying to beat a low pressure system that is due to hit Bermuda and according to our skipper Clive, we do not want to sail through it. It is expected to bring gale force winds up to 50 knots and create some very rough seas. Hopefully the weather will cooperate so we can beat the storm. Now time for a nap, my next shift starts in 4 and a half hours at 6 pm…

Jon T. Howard North Atlantic Gyre Blog #21

Birthday Post from Jauary 13, 2010

I woke up today at 10:30 am after getting to sleep around 6:30 am. I was greeted with a big bowl of oatmeal Anna had made for me since it was my birthday. My next watch was set to begin at 12 noon but I could hear everyone up on deck very excited so I rushed up to see what was going on? Marcus was on the bow pointing at a long line of Sargassum and telling everyone to grab the nets and cameras and keep a look out for plastic. Sure enough there it was mixed in with all the Sargassum.… everywhere. Marcus explained it is all pushed together due to a Windrow which is where two currents converge and push the Sargassum and plastic together. We spent the next hour fishing out as much as we could reach. We found a bunch of bottle caps, a plastic bag, fishing line, broken fragments of plastic large and small and even a large fisherman’s boot covered with Barnacles. As excited as we were to find evidence it was also a sad reminder that we must do something about the world’s dependence and use of plastic now. That is why www.EcoUsable.com is here as a sponsor and seeing it firsthand really drove the point home to the need to get people to stop using single use plastic before it is too late. We marked the coordinates with our GPS and the Latitude and Longitude of the find was 25 33 18 North - 62 26 47 West. We were over 400 miles to the closest land and there was a garbage patch to be seen as clear as day. Everyone said we were lucky to find the patch because it was my birthday. I don’t know about that but I am sure I will still talk about this birthday for years to come. About mid afternoon the weather quickly took a change for the worst and the winds picked up again. We spent the next 14 hours rocking and rolling while the sea tossed us around like a toy. On a high note Stiv Wilson who is the editor of Wend Magazine (www.WendMag.com) made me a chocolate cake and everyone sang Happy Birthday. The crew is a great group of people and I feel honored to be a part of this special mission.