Data on data on data (and you do not need to be a scientist to get it)

Rozalia Project for a Clean Ocean is about halfway through our 2012 season and, with the help of many excellent people on the coast and in Vermont, we have already collected over 143,000 pieces of marine debris!  18,101 pieces were collected since early June with our interns aboard American Promise. Here is a quick list of the top ten items we picked up along the coast of New England:

Top Ten
1	Foam Pieces	1191
2	Cigarettes/Filters	984
3	Rope	774
4	Food Wrappers/Containers	533
5	Small Plastic (5-30mm)	454
6	Plastic Bottles	337
7	Microplastic (<5mm)	307
8	Caps/Lids/Bottle Tops	296
9	Rubber Pieces	287
10	Large Plastic (>30mm)	247

The above list accounts for 5,410 pieces of collected trash, over a quarter of the total number collected this far (we picked up over 12,000 pieces of trash on Frenchboro - there was so much that we only counted the number but did not fill out our specific data cards).

There are three main ways in which we collect this trash, each of which is effective in its own way.  Land cleanups account for the majority of debris removal.  Like the name claims, this involves picking up garbage found on the ground near bodies of water.  This is important because trash on land can be blown into the water by wind or swept in with runoff after heavy rains.  The other two methods are used for removing debris directly from the water.  We use various nets (Neuston, dip-nets, and our own Baleen Basker) and drag them along the surface of the water while we sail in order to pick up anything that may be floating or near the very top of the water column.  Lastly, we use our ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) to explore and clean the ocean floor.  This underwater robot can be flown through the water using a control box that is very similar to a video game controller.  It has a camera on the front so that we can see everything the robot sees as well as a claw to grab any trash we find.

No matter which method we use, we fill out a data card every time we go trash hunting.  This ensures that we have a more detailed record of items we find so we can identify any trends in debris accumulation.  We break up the data card into five main categories (food-related waste, personal waste, fishing debris, industrial debris, other pieces), each with several sub-categories for more specific labeling.  With a little data manipulation, we are able to compare the percent debris removal of each category by each method to see which technique is most effective for a given trash category.  From the graph, we can see that collected trash during land cleanups is pretty much even across the five categories.  Surface tows, on the other hand, appear to yield small percentages of everything except “Other Debris”.  By digging a little deeper, we found that this could be a result of large amounts of microplastic that are found farther from the shoreline as larger items break down.  Surface towing is the most reliable method to collect these tiny pieces of plastic that we may otherwise not be able to see easily.  The ROV shows the highest collection rate for food-related waste.  This also makes sense because we often launch the robot off the side of docks where people dump either their trash or it blows from overflowing garbage cans.

As we continue to analyze our data, we are finding many interesting trends.  Check back in soon to see what else we have learned! If you are interested in helping Rozalia Project and your local waterway, we will be happy to send you a copy of our data card. Fill it out each time you and your friends and family do a clean up, send it to us and we will keep records to see how what you find compares to what we find.

Vineyard Sound Garbage Patch

The Vineyard Sound is known for its captivating shoreline as it leads boaters between Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard. With a beautiful 5 am sunrise on July 10, 2012 American Promise and the Rozalia Project crew set sail from Martha’s Vineyard to Providence, Rhode Island. After very little wind and 3 hours of motoring we found ourselves off of Cuttyhunk Island, which we recently discovered has been hit hard by marine debris washing up on the beaches.

Earlier that weekend, Pam, one of the great people we met at the Edgartown Yacht Club mentioned seeing a tremendous pile of marine debris that the locals have been collecting from their shorelines. This pile of garbage has been steadily growing, as there isn’t a clear way to get it off the island. The Cuttyhunk garbage pile was news to us, so we were paying attention as we approached that area on our passage.

With our on-going tideline research we have acutely trained our eyes to scan for large slicks of floating organic material. We call these slicks areas of accumulation, and we usually find them littered with inorganic material. It wasn’t long before we spotted a large slick with floating pieces of trash. As we approached the slick, we began noticing more and more garbage in the water. It wasn’t until the slick surrounded us that we realized how much trash was actually there. The amount of garbage was shocking, it knocked everyone off their feet.

We motored through the slick, all hands on deck, removing trash with anything we could find, dip nets, boat hooks and poles. We hoisted our intern, Marina, up the mast guiding us to large pieces off the horizon, such as a plastic 55-gallon drum labeled bait and a large plastic crate. After an hour and a half with 3 people grabbing trash from all areas of the boat, we made a significant dent in the amount of trash floating in the slick.

As we left the area, still grabbing trash floating by the boat, we began sorting what we removed. In the end we removed 244 pieces of trash, ranging from shoe insoles, burlap sacs, uneaten wrapped cucumbers and gloves. The most abundant items we found included 35 food wrappers, 23 pieces of Styrofoam, 22 balloons, 20 pieces of microplastic and 19 plastic bags. We were amazed at the sheer volume of garbage in the area.

You maybe asking yourself, why does trash accumulate like this in such high densities in such a huge ocean? In this case, it is due to the direction of the tide and, most importantly, the geology of the area. The law of physics states that water flows more quickly through small, narrow areas than it does through large, open areas. As water enters Vineyard Sound it speeds up through the narrow and shallow channel and slows down as the channel opens up into deeper water. The current associated with Vineyard Sound's ebb tide flushes water and floating debris down the channel southwest toward open water. As low tide transitions into slack, debris accumulates near the opening of the channel. As slack tide transitions into high tide, the accumulated debris is flushed back northeast through the channel, potentially adding more floating debris to the slick.

We can’t be sure how long our garbage patch had been accumulating. What we do know is that there is more work to be done in Vineyard Sound. We hope to return to the Sound with similar wind and tide conditions to see if a slick has re-formed and what has collected there. Our goal, as we encounter more of these slicks, is to get a good understanding of how and where slicks form so we can track them down and clean them up.

The Lucky Dollar Bill (and our visit to Edgartown)

Rozalia Project for a Clean Ocean has arrived in Martha's Vineyard!  After a beautiful three day sail from Kittery Point, Maine, we received a warm welcome as we pulled up to dock at Edgartown Yacht Club on Thursday afternoon.  The beauty and charm of this town, as well as the graciousness of our hosts, made it easy to settle in and feel right at home.

After a much needed night of rest, we wasted no time in spreading the joys of marine debris removal and disposal as we began our stay with a public showing of our ROV at Memorial Wharf.  Hundreds of people passed by the area, checking out our underwater robot along the way.  There wasn't a whole lot of trash (which was a great thing to see!), but we did manage to pull out some BIG items!  After retrieving two tires, a few bottles, and some fishing materials (including a fishing rod), we made our way back to American Promise to wrap up the day with a few hours of boat tours and more ROV fun.

Much of Saturday was spent in the company of the amiable and generous David Murphy and family/friends.  A relaxing morning of swimming put us in a great mood for a day of debris removal.  We joined them for a delicious lunch and a good old Neuston tow.  We found several pieces of microplastic, tons of phytoplankton, a few crabs, lobsters, and needle fish (which we threw back into the ocean), but our most exciting find was definitely the $1 bill we pulled out!  Finding money in the ocean is a first for the Rozalia Project and this dollar has been dubbed our Lucky Dollar Bill and will be forever cherished.  After returning to American Promise, we donned our prettiest dresses and finest suits and made our way back over to the Murphy's home, where they hosted a beautiful party.  It was thrilling to meet so many interesting people who shared our love for the ocean and were so enthusiastic about our mission.

The last few days of our stay consisted of more ROV, boat tour, and education programs, including a fun session with EYC Juniors and Lunch With a View, as well as shopping in the charming shops found throughout the town.  We also had another chance to hang out with the Murphy family during a beach clean-up at the Gut at Cape Pogue.  After such a memorable and rewarding experience here in Edgartown we are sorry to go, but we are excited to make our way on to Providence where we are looking forward to three days of cleaning the ocean!  Check back in with us in a few days to hear about our adventures in Rhode Island!

Rozalia Project at the America's Cup World Series... really fast boats and getting people psyched to keep the ocean clean

For schedule and information about Rozalia Project's visit to Edgartown July 5-11, please scroll down or click HERE!

Rozalia Project for a Clean Ocean has returned to Kittery, ME after a whirlwind four days of trash hunting, demonstrations, presentations, promotions and, of course, fantastic sailing at the America's Cup Series event in Newport, RI. 

We removed 53 pieces of marine debris with the ROV from a small area in the basin outside of Fort Adams, most of which was covered in a fine layer of sludge, crabs, and barnacles.   

Over 1,460 participants ventured to our booth and trash hunting tent, a picturesque spot situated perfectly between the race course and the race boats' moorings.  Hundreds of kids (and adults!) joined our support team, constantly running back and forth between the ROV on the dock and the screen on shore, marine debris held triumphantly overhead.  Our booth at the Exploration Zone also welcomed a steady stream of participants eager to learn more about our mission and all we do to remove marine debris.  


Rozalia Project ran our first Underwater Trash Hunt Challenge and congratulates Brad Read (Sail Newport), Martha Parker (Team One Newport) and Andy Green (AC commentator and pro sailor) for completing the challenge and getting the ROV to grab our trash-filled trap! Andy came out with the fastest time but we are impressed with all - as first time ROV pilots they showed some promise!

It is always a thrill to meet so many enthusiastic and supportive people who really care about doing their part to clean the world's oceans, and our Newport experience did not disappoint.  A huge thank you to our excellent host, Annie Becker, and thank you to Brad Read, Donna Kelly and the hard working crew from Sail Newport as well as all those who stopped by.  Cleaning the oceans is a grand task, and we cannot do it without you!  

We would also like to announce the first four winners of this summer's drawing.  In the upcoming weeks, we will complete a beach cleanup in your name and post an announcement and pictures on Facebook for each of your cleanups!  


Congrats to the following people:

Lucy Shea from Newport, RI

Chris Brett from Arrowsic, ME

Travis Bluemling from the Villages, FL

Kathy Clute from Bristol, CT

Remember to Like us on Facebook and check out our blog for more updates and photos from the summer's trash hunting activities!

Total trash count for Rozalia Project in 2012: 96,143

Our next adventure is a 120 mile sail from Kittery, ME to Edgartown on Martha’s Vineyard, MA (via Gloucester and Provincetown). We have a full schedule featuring underwater trash hunting right from Memorial Wharf free and open to the general public as well as tours of American Promise, trash hunting, a program for junior sailors and special presentation for the members of Edgartown Yacht Club and their guests. See our Martha's Vineyard blog post or our Events and Shore Stops page for details on this as well as the rest of our shoreside programs. We hope to see you on the Vineyard... and beyond.

The current Rozalia Promise team: Blais, Marina, Rebecca, Sloane, Martha, Kyle and RZM

Rozalia Project coming to Martha's Vineyard - join us!

We are very excited for our first visit to Martha's Vineyard and have a fun, full schedule planned. Whether you are on the Vineyard for some sailing, some family fun or to enjoy the beach... stop by one of our events.

Thursday, July 5th: American Promise (Dodge Morgan's ex-record breaking voyager) arrives at Edgartown Yacht Club (EYC) docks.

Friday, July 6th:
10:00am-2:00pm
Underwater trash hunting with the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) off Memorial Wharf for general public and members of the community. Great for all ages!

3:30-5:30pm
Open reception on American Promise; tours of the boat for EYC members.

Saturday, July 7th:
1:00pm-3:00pm  

Beach cleanup with Murphy family and invited guests

Sunday, July 8th:

10:00am-2:00pm
Underwater trash hunting with the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) off Memorial Wharf for general public and members of the community. Great for all ages!

Monday, July 9th:

Times TBA
Marine debris program with EYC junior program

Tuesday, July 10th:

12:00-2:30pm
Lunch with a View event at EYC followed by ROV ops and American Promise tours

Wednesday, July 11:
Weather dependent: American Promise departs to Providence.

We have opportunities for groups, camps and families to have some time set aside with the Rozalia Project team. Call or email us to make arrangements. We hope to see you soon.

The Rozalia Project Team

802-578-6120

rachael@rozaliaproject.org

Discovering Garbage Patches in the Gulf of Maine

Rozalia Project for a Clean Ocean

Discovering Garbage Patches in the Gulf of Maine

Rozalia Project for a Clean Ocean recently conducted a research cruise on the sailing research vessel American Promise. On June 11th 2012, while on passage to Frenchboro, ME from Kittery, ME the crew of American Promise observed large accumulations of seaweed, wood and plastic floating marine debris in the area of 43° 20.50 N, 69° 50.20 W. These accumulations of organic and manmade matter extended for several miles on a northwest to southeast axis.

On the return journey from Rockland to the Isle of Shoals on June 18th 2012, we used a foam current model and sea surface temperature analysis from Tidetech to determine the potential location of marine debris accumulation. As predicted by our analysis we observed the  marine debris accumulation zone in the area of 43° 21.71N, 69° 41.11W. These marine debris accumulations again extended for several miles on a northwest to south east axis.

The Maine coastal current, as shown by the current model below, had its distal end in the area of debris accumulation. The lobe of cold water (56 degrees) is a good indicator of the presence of  the Maine coastal current. This current collects debris from the waters of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Maine and flows SW along the Maine coast. In the area of observed accumulation, the Maine coastal current peters out to zero,  thus becoming a probable marine debris accumulation zone. 

Tidetech Gulf of Maine Current Analysis 06.18.12 (click image to enlarge):

Tidetech Sea Surface Temperature analysis 06.18.12 (click image to enlarge):

The marine debris accumulations consisted of seaweed, wood in form of logs and branches, rope, net, plastic oil cans, plastic water bottles, lobster claw bands, Hooksett disks, plastic bags, plastic buckets, bleach containers and various miscellaneous unidentifiable  pieces of plastic (photo right).

The ability to identify accumulations of marine debris via current and temperature analysis is part of the cornerstone of Rozalia Project’s mission to clean up our oceans of this marine trash.

Rozalia Project believes that the oceans can be cleaned of manmade marine debris by identifying and locating accumulations, then using low bycatch marine debris nets remove this debris from the ocean.

Rozalia Project is currently testing a marine debris removal prototype called the Baleen Basker off the waters of the Isle of Shoals. Stay tuned on Rozalia Project’s Facebook page as well as this blog for up to date news and photos of the Baleen Basker, marine debris pick up, education and research from the surface to the seafloor.

James Lyne

Rozalia Project for a Clean ocean

Frenchboro, ME: Stunning, remote and now 12,166 pieces of debris cleaner

The dim silhouette of Maine’s Long Island began to emerge against the rugged backdrop of Mount Desert Island at around 6:00 a.m. on Tuesday, June 12, and when the American Promise glided into the lapping waters of Frenchboro Harbor, the raw beauty of the tiny island was already unmistakable.  The American Promise, the 60-foot sailboat that serves as the mobile headquarters of the Rozalia Project, took up mooring about a tenth of a mile off the coast. Long Island is located halfway up the coast of Maine, a few miles south of Bar Harbor. The island, home to the small town of Frenchboro, was one of the first stops on the Rozalia Project’s Summer 2012 Trash Tour.

The eight members of the Rozalia Project’s trash collection crew met with Terry Towne, our contact with the Maine Coast Heritage Trust, at 10:30 a.m. Terry would serve as an indispensable hiking guide, naturalist, expert in Frenchboro life, and storyteller in the days of trash collection to come. We learned from Terry that Frenchboro is a tiny fishing village that consists of 32 year round residents. The town encircles the all-important harbor, consists primarily of a few clusters of waterside cottages, and boasts a beautiful colonial-style church, a library, a small school which accommodates Frenchboro’s 11 children in the grades K-8, a small municipal building, and two small waterside eateries. As we puttered into Lunt’s harbor on two small dinghies, the multitude of Frenchboro’s fishing piers came into view, the stacks of lobster traps and colorful rope-coils atop them revealing Frenchboro’s life-sustaining industry. The nucleus of the Frenchboro community, the harbor seemed alive with the brine-crusted vessels of fishermen. Mighty stacks of lobster traps sat like wire skeletons atop barnacle-covered sepulchers in the morning fog.

We followed Terry through the tiny village and on a stunning two-mile hike across the island. Our hike took us through the Southern fringes of the boreal forest to the Southeastern edge of Long Island. We emerged from the scrubby pines of the forest to an overwhelmingly beautiful vista. From our vantage point, we looked out over a beautiful, grassy isthmus of no more than 50 yards in width, fringed on either side by two rocky beaches. Ahead of us lay a knobby, spruce-covered peninsula ringed by coarse reefs and weathered rock columns. Around us, the seas were festooned with lobster buoys of every imaginable hue. This beautiful place was Rich’s Head, our cleanup site.

We stopped to eat a quick lunch in the middle of this postcard, and then we set to work for our first day of cleaning. The beaches were even rockier than they had first appeared, and the smooth, larges stones obscured from view an incredible amount of debris. The beaches were littered with thousands of pieces of trash that had escaped notice in our initial survey of the peninsula. We discovered food wrappers, derelict fishing traps, buoys, plastic bottles, bait-bags, bits of rope, and other fishing materials. The sheer volume was quite shocking; it struck me immediately that our three days in Frenchboro would be scarcely enough time to clean up all of the debris before us. We cleaned at an energetic pace; on the first day of pickup, we managed to pick up 3,112 pieces of trash in just three hours.

We returned to Rich’s Head the following day and continued our work despite inclement weather (it rained for most of the day). We were astonished at the amount of debris concentrated in the large drift pile that sat towards the middle of the isthmus leading to Rich’s Head.  The thousands of buoys that we had circumvented en route to our mooring in Lunt’s Harbor had formed a similarly vivid mosaic of color in the large drift piles of the isthmus.  Not only was the trash scattered along the whole length of the beach, but also, amazingly, it was vertically layered in heap after heap of driftwood. After a day of scouring the drift piles, we managed to pick up a staggering 4,798 pieces of trash on our second day of collection.

Rather than cleaning the twin beaches of the isthmus as we had done for the previous two days, we trekked further along the peninsula on our third and final cleanup day.  We got to enjoy some of Maine’s best most beautiful hiking trails as we zigzagged through mossy knolls on the way to our new location. After about a ten-minute walk from our initial cleanup location, our team emerged onto a rocky plain littered with buoys and plastic bottles. We had just begun to pull on our work gloves and stuff our bags full of garbage when our guide Terry rounded the bend behind us, laughing at our efforts. Not finding the heaps of buoys and bottles particularly amusing, we shot Terry a volley of quizzical looks. “Oh this isn’t the spot,” he told us. “Once you see how much trash is out further on the point, you’ll have your hands full, believe me.”

Terry wasn’t kidding. Lying on the side of the hiking trail that looped around Rich’s Head were heaps of trash so large it looked as though people had already piled them for us. When we walked out further onto the rocks, however, the debris only seemed to multiply. At the conclusion of this third day, we had amassed a pile of more than 4,256 huge pieces of debris, ranging from a propane tank to a Styrofoam-filled piece of plastic dock material.

We found it staggering that such a high volume of trash could accumulate in a location as seemingly remote as Long Island. Our visit to Frenchboro was a dramatic example of the interconnectedness of all ocean-goers. A unique feature of the ocean, one as beautiful as it is dangerous, is that no part of the ocean can truly be remote. The mounds of trash on Rich’s Head were a vivid reminder of the ocean’s tremendous capacity to act as a conveyor belt that can swallow up and parcel out its cargo to the remote corners of the world. We found pieces of trash imprinted with a half-dozen different languages, and pieces of fishing gear that had undoubtedly come from all up and down the coast. In fact, while working on the beaches of Rich’s Head, Terry had told us that he and his crew had done a thorough cleanup of the very same site just three months before our arrival, which was a frightening reminder of how quickly trash can pile up.

It was incredibly satisfying to see the beaches transformed from a veritable garbage heap to their natural beauty over the course of our three-day cleanup project on Long Island. In total, we picked up 12,166 pieces of trash during our three-day cleanup of the Rich’s Head beaches.  However, despite the great work we were able to accomplish during our time on Long Island, our conversation with Terry about his unceasing efforts to keep Long Island debris-free left us with an important and sobering reminder of the importance of continuing to encourage responsible recycling practices.  It is important to remember that the Rozalia Project is only part of a broader coalition to clean the world’s ocean. Although it may seem hard to believe to a visitor of remote Frenchboro, the recycling decisions made by consumers of recyclable goods in Miami, Shanghai, Tokyo, and São Paolo all affect the health of Long Island’s beaches. To preserve the beauty of Rich’s Head, it is important for not only New England fishermen, but all those who enjoy the coasts of the world to realize their ocean-sized affiliation with one another.

This blog post was written by Rozalia Project's Embedded Journalist and little-bit-of-everything Intern, Conot Grant. Conor will be with us through the middle of July. Keep an eye on this page for more of Conor's experiences and observations as he travels with American Promise and Rozalia Project writing about our work (and getting his hands salty and sandy).