Location: Underway to Palau
Each day on passage, we celebrate various milestones that we have reached, big and small. Today it is that we have under 600 miles to go to Palau, we have traveled 3327 miles together thus far, and that we entered international waters for the first time since we were in French Polynesia’s EEZ in April. One of my favorite things to see offshore are birds. Some of the most common species that we see are boobies, frigates, terns, and tropicbirds. Nothing quite compares with the sound of a chirping bird flying overhead when you are hundreds of miles offshore. As most people on board know, I am particularly fond of albatrosses. Albatrosses are the largest of all seabirds and undertake impressive migrations. The Wandering Albatross, for example, circumnavigates the Southern Ocean up to four times every year and spends around two years away from its nests on land. They can fly over 900 kilometers a day with the longest wingspan of any bird, with most of their time in the air spent soaring with the wind and using little more energy than that which they use in their nest. I still have yet to see an Albatross while on Argo, but I remain hopeful. Unfortunately, albatrosses, amongst other species of seabirds, are being impacted by the obscene amount of plastic that ends up in the ocean. As plastic is broken down by UV light and waves, it gets smaller and smaller and begins to enter the food chain for many animals. Albatrosses, in particular, feed on small fish at or near the surface and are particularly attracted to brightly colored marine plastic that looks similar and hangs out in a similar place to their more favorable fishy prey. This ingested plastic can not be broken down in their digestive tract, so it remains in their stomach, slowly taking over more space until the bird begins to starve. While we have spent a lot of time offshore this passage, it has seemed like the further we have gotten from land, the more plastic we have started to see. Now, I realize this information is not the most uplifting, but it does present us all with an opportunity. We can all do something about plastic pollution. It is a problem that we created and one that we can come together and solve.
Current position:
0242.95’N
14247.10’E
Pictured:
Catherine and Jennifer at sunset
Caleigh in the gopher hole
Ian and Max checking on the dinghy