Don't Believe Everything you Read

Every morning I get an e-mail from Steap and Cheap, a website that sells outdoor equipment at ridiculously inexpensive prices. Included in the e-mail is a paragraph or two that is generally funny and always entertaining. Today was about the giant island of plastic that has accumulated in the middle of the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and the mainland US. This is one of those stories where I will just have to disagree with what we are being told.

If you do a little searching on the web, you will find all sorts of stories about plastic accumulating into an island out in the middle of the ocean. Some say the island is about as large as the state of Texas while others claim it is twice the size of the United States. One thing they all agree on is that it is about 1000 miles West of California and 1000 miles North of Hawaii. I don't think it is a coincidence that relatively few people have the means to visit such a location. Unfortunately for the environmentalists, I have been there and can report first-hand as to the reality of the situation.

First, yes there is a lot of garbage in the middle of the ocean. When I sailed from Hawaii to Los Angeles, I saw a lot of man-made stuff in the water. However, there never was an island of it. We would sail past a single grocery bag and then see something else 30 minutes later. Considering we were only going about 7 miles per hour, that equates to a lot of junk in the ocean. We really should be doing a better job of disposing our garbage.

Second, yes all that plastic can be harmful to marine life. I understand that sea turtles like to eat those plastic shopping bags because the bags look like jelly-fish. However there are all sorts of marine life that depend on that garbage. It was not uncommon to see various fish seeking refuge from the birds underneath some of that rubbish. Once we came across a fishing float that we wanted to keep as a souvenir of our trip. We plucked it out of the ocean only to find it was covered with crabs, algae, and other marine life. It was like an entire miniature eco system thriving in the middle of nowhere.

Should we be doing something to keep our garbage out of the ocean? Of course we should. Should we be alarmed about the garbage collecting into a huge island? Nope, there is no island. If you don't believe me, look out the window the next time you fly to Hawaii. I would be amazed if you see anything other than lots of water.