On Sunday June 1, the raft named "Junk" left Long Beach for it's 2100
mile voyage to Hawaii to bring attention to the plastic marine debris
(nicknamed the plastic soup) accumulating in the North Pacific Gyre.
The raft was designed and sailed by Dr. Marcus Eriksen of the Algalita
Marine Research Foundation, and Joel Paschal, it is constructed from
15,000 plastic bottles, an airplane fuselage, discarded fishing nets
and a solar generator. The raft was towed for two and a half days to
near San Nicholas Island, about 65 mile of the coast of California, so
it could catch favorable winds for it's trip. The tow boat was the ORV
Alguita, captained by Charlie Moore of the Algalita Marine Research
Foundation, the man credited for first discovering the plastic soup in
the Gyre over 12 years ago. Use the Keyword Search to find more images
on the "Junk Raft".
