An ingenious solution to rid our oceans of plastic waste has been going viral after climate-positive content creator Sam Bentley explained the terrific technology.
Relevant: https://youtu.be/O7OzRzs_u-8?si=2I77JvyRmVF2Oy3B
It’s clear that prevention is the most crucial step, starting with catching it at deltas / rivers before it reaches the ocean.
And regulating polluters ofc.
There’s a similar concept to this, but it sits passively near the delta of a rivers end. It has nets that span from one bank to the other with the boat moored at the center of the river, so the nets kind of funnel the trash to the boat, which then scoops it all up.
It’s mostly used when there’s a lot of rainfall that washes debris into the river, as kind of a stop gap to prevent more plastic going out into the ocean where it’s harder to recover. Finding the “bottle necks” for plastic pollution seems like a good strategy, even if the oceans themselves still need major work and we need to stop plastic pollution at its sources.
I think it also gives people a visual that they see in their daily life, so they can conceptualize how much waste is out there.
apparently it’s not super great: https://www.vox.com/down-to-earth/22949475/ocean-plastic-pollution-cleanup
“It’s like mopping up the spill when the spigot is still on. We can’t clean up our way out of plastic pollution.”
We need to fix the underlying problems before cleanup even makes sense to attempt. The biggest one being is single use plastics and the inability to recycle, practically speaking most plastic can’t be recycled. But since corporations only care for profit and producing clamshell containers is efficient from their PoV, there isn’t a way to change without government intervention.
Which, lol, we all know isn’t happening.
now if only we could do something with that plastic after we fish it out…
It is very cool. I am not sure how they are avoiding scooping out marine life while gathering the garbage. It looks like it can avoid scooping up something large, like a dolphin, but what about smaller organisms like jellyfish?
I guess the slow moving conveyer belt give animals time to get out of the way before getting captured. The Sea Cleaners FAQ also says the following.
Will this boat be a nuisance for the marine fauna and flora?
Every effort is made to minimize the impact on marine fauna and flora. In particular, the boat will be equipped with an infrasound system to keep marine animals away from the boat by scattering fish and marine mammals when approaching the boat.
Waste sorting will be done manually: the few living organisms and the organic waste that will get caught in the collection mats will be immediately put back into the water, without damage.
Except in special cases, anchoring will not be necessary, so the impact on the sea grass beds and marine flora will be minimized, and the calls will be scheduled in ports equipped with infrastructures to handle the cargoes of waste brought back by the vessel.
https://www.theseacleaners.org/faqs/
The boat is playing infrasound noise to scare animals away. The catch is sorted manually, where they remove animals and other organic matter.
I wouldn’t worry about jellyfish particularly. There’s way too many of them.
