North of the Bahamas is an Atlantic gyre which is a huge collection of floating plastic debris trapped between powerful currents.
Recently, two Miami surfers attempted to be the first ever to paddle, standing up, through whatever they would find on their adventure from Bimini to Miami.
Thaddeus Foote, an environmental educator by day, says his goal is simple: to tell people to stop using plastic.
“Nobody likes a dirty beach, dirty water but everybody still uses plastic bottles, everybody still uses plastic bags and what we want to do is have people start the conversation like we’re doing right now.”
In the dark of night, about 3:30 in the morning, the two Miami surfers departed from Cat Cay in Bimini, on their standup paddle surfboards. With the Gulf Stream pushing them northward, they encountered lots of floating plastic pieces along their 60 mile trek.
Fellow Surfer, and creative director Bill Whiddon says they grabbed as much plastic as they could and tossed it into to the catamaran boat following them.
“It’s not just full containers, it’s pieces and that’s the problem . You get these little teeny pieces of styrofoam you get these pieces of plastic bags and things like that that are disintegrating and that’s where the problem really is.”
Finally after 17 hours 11 minutes and 43 seconds.. the two waterman landed on Sunny Isles Beach to crowds cheering and champagne corks popping.
“Good to see you all.. thanks for coming out. I’m happy to talk to someone else but him. It’s been nothing but him for 17 hours and 11 minutes,” Foote says.
Much of the plastic debris is ingested by marine life and damaging to the seabeds it contaminates.
For these guys, the message is clear. “Don’t leave stuff on the beach or on your boat that can blow out. Better yet, don’t use it. Use recycle bottles, reusable bags.”
To read the entire article, please go to: http://blog.wlrn.org/index.php/2012/06/surfers-paddleboard-from-bimini-to-miami-for-anti-plastic-campaign/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=surfers-paddleboard-from-bimini-to-miami-for-anti-plastic-campaign