Captain Charles Moore, seafaring environmentalist and researcher, talks about discovering of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in the summer of 1997, when he was sailing from Honolulu to California. He had stumbled upon the largest garbage dump on the planet-a spiral nebula where plastic outweighed zooplankton, the ocean's food base, by a factor of six to one. In Plastic Ocean: How a Sea Captain’s Chance Discovery Launched a Determined Quest to Save the Ocean Moore looks at the secret life and hidden properties of plastics—from milk jugs to polymer molecules small enough to penetrate human skin or be unknowingly inhaled.
Guests:
Charles Moore
About The Leonard Lopate Show
Host Leonard Lopate lets you in on the best conversations with writers, actors, ex-presidents, dancers, scientists, comedians, historians, grammarians, curators, filmmakers, and do-it-yourself experts.
Hosted by Leonard Lopate
Links
- 2012 Election Coverage
- 25 Years of Lopate
- American History XX
- Backstory
- Food Fridays
- Globavores: Food Travels Around The World Since 1492
- Guest Hosts
- Guest Picks
- Please Explain
- The Gurus of How-To
- The Leonard Lopate Show Book Club
- The Lodown
- The Story of New York in 10 Objects
- Tributes
- Underappreciated
- Underreported
- Web Extras
- Word Maven: Patricia T. O'Conner
Show Archive
Show Archive
Comments [15]
A very interesting (and scary) story.. perhaps the anecdote lies here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14722179
We need to implement an immediate moratorium on fishing worldwide. Then, employ the fishing industry in the process of recovering the plastics from the sea. The fishing industry is phenomenally efficient. If the fishing industry can completely deplete the worlds fish stocks, certainly they would be able to recover a significant portion of the ocean's plastics.
The fishing industry is often subsidized anyway. Put them to work clearing the plastics instead of the fish.
Allow only artisinal fish harvesting according to the seasons of the sea. At least until stocks rebound...
This essay from photographer Chris Jordan is an extremely powerful testament to the danger of this problem. Albatross full of plastic is very disturbing. http://bit.ly/aXMClo
why can't the plastic be harvested and recycled?
Can these Plastic collecting islands work? Is Captain Moore involved. His name is used in the video clip.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_4ebNa7LcE&feature=related
I get the vast quantities of plastic involved but can the ocean be cleaned?
Tha major issue is that we have so much wrapped in plastic in the first place. Beverage corporations used to reuse glass bottles instead of using plastic. Companies wrap and rewrap items in plastic packaging. Would you ask Captain Moore if he is working with any corporations to reduce their plastics?
Thanks
Should we assume that the plastic is now in our "fish oil" supplements? If so, can it be removed?
Does the captain find it ironic that his co-author's name is Cassandra?
how ironic that Capt. Moore's co-author is named 'Cassandra' ...
I like HughSansom's suggestion--the CD would make a good pledge drive gift! Some of the other series on the show would be good for this too.
Is the effect of all this on mammals different from the effect on fish? Is it different for mammals that spend some of their lives on land & for those that don't?
Mr. Lopate has done a series of very interesting interviews on issues like this. The one that always comes to my mind is that with Jon Wargo perhaps two years ago.... The set of them would make a great CD (or some kind of) compilation.
The plastics do leach chemicals into the water, altering biochemistry.
Len, can the plastic be mined and reused??
Does Captain Moore have any thoughts about a another wave of debris originating from Japan which consists of material from their recent surnami?
Leave a Comment
Register for your own account so you can vote on comments, save your favorites, and more. Learn more.
Please stay on topic, be civil, and be brief.
Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. Names are displayed with all comments. We reserve the right to edit any comments posted on this site. Please read the Comment Guidelines before posting. By leaving a comment, you agree to New York Public Radio's Privacy Policy and Terms Of Use.