Matt Rohrer shares some of the highlights of his conversations with Bay Area surfer Jimmy Holt, focal point of one of the few surfing photos to ever appear in National Geographic Magazine. Selected photos: Jim Shaw

Hidden away in a Falmouth boatyard among the classic lines of traditional timber ships is an unusual surfboard factory: one in which the boards are finished with wood and natural oils. Here tradition meets modernism. This is Glass Tiger. Words: Mark Sankey Action photos: Kirstin Prisk Other photos & design: Alexa Poppe

Championed by surfers in the know for over 30 years, but largely ignored by mainstream riders; has the time finally come for the Bonzer to shine? Words: Steve Croft & Mark Sankey Photos: Alexa Poppe

When legendary longboard designer Bob McTavish came to Devon recently as part of TIKI's international shaper tour, Chris Preston couldn't resist the opportunity to quiz him about the technicalities of board design... Photos: Jamie Bott

Portugal explodes onto the global big wave circuit with a handful of household names and a freakish wave canyon. Photos: Jorge Leal and Wilson Ribeiro.

Self-confessed board hoarder Chris Preston expounds the delights to be found within his tardis-like garden shed, and explains how he came to favour the quiver approach to surfing. Photos by Jamie Bott [except no.3].

Sweeping up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

June 11, 2009 | Words By:

Most of us have heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a great lump of plastic floating in the central North Pacific Ocean.plastic-rubbish-pacific-gyreCurrents sweep debris from the coastal waters off North America and Japan into a ‘dustpan’ twice the size of Texas called the convergence zone. Wind-driven surface currents squish the plastic toward the center of the lump.

It sounds quite impressive, but can be fatal to local wildlife. Jellyfish mistakenly think the floating particles of plastic are zooplankton and consume them. The long-lasting plastics work their way up the food chain and end up in the stomachs of marine birds and animals. Before being eaten the plastics absorb pollutants from sea water, so they contain dangerously high levels of toxic chemicals such as PCDs and DDT which cause hormone disruption.

The plastic fragments, include bottles, ropes, lighters and Styrofoam which have degraded into tiny, sludgy pieces making the cleanup difficult. Some ocean scientists think it will be impossible to clean up this mess.

plastic-beach-wasteEnter Richard Owen, a scuba diver and building contractor. In 2008 he formed the ECC (Environmental Cleanup Coalition) to sweep up the mess in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. His plan is nothing if not stylish, in fact if he can get funding it will be the largest marine pollution cleanup and restoration project in the world, ever. He is going to modify a fleet of 20-30 ships to create a giant laboratory called Gyre Island, specially designed to cut right to the center of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and trawl out the trash for recycling. As if that wasn’t enough, he is planning on using the Gyre Island fleet to house a tasty sea vegetable production farm, growing seaweed, kelp and algae as a food crop. He is even going to throw in a marine fish hatchery and release 10,000 tuna into the Pacific Ocean. What a man.

The ECC is planning on spending the rest of this year fundraising to get this massive project ready for launch in 2010. To do your bit go to www.gyrecleanup.org

     

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