Picture this: a solitary sailboat glides over water so serene that one could mistake it for crystalline glass. Just below, medleys of sea creatures feast on lush vegetation. The wind is brisk, and there’s a hint of salt in the air. Although this scene is not completely illusory, a more accurate depiction would be one that includes derelict nets and plastic debris—and, sadly, a lot of it. Ocean Voyages Institute, a nonprofit leading the world’s ocean cleanup efforts, hopes to change that.

“Mid-ocean is really beautiful,” says founder and executive director Mary Crowley. “It’s really like an oceanic wilderness. It’s normally this very beautiful place, and it’s really distressing to see it this way.”

Earlier this year, Crowley and her assemblage of experts embarked on two restoration expeditions for the same cause. Recording a total of 5,000 nautical miles, the group embarked from O‘ahu and made a beeline for the North Pacific Gyre, colloquially known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Over the course of the summer, Ocean Voyages Institute removed 170 tons (340,000 pounds) of ghost nets and plastic debris from the water, breaking the record for the largest open-ocean cleanup to date.

“Even after these nets are abandoned or lost, they keep fishing and they keep killing sea creatures,” says Crowley. “Sometimes we would see massive amounts of laundry detergent bottles or beer crates.

“I think (Hawai‘i) is a very special part of the world,” she adds. “I’m very pleased because I think the work that we’re doing out in the North Pacific Gyre really helps Hawai‘i.”

In fact, following its time spent out in the deep blue, Ocean Voyages Institute continues to remove toxic plastic and other unwanted waste between the islands.

“These nets that are out there do come into Hawai‘i,” says Crowley. “It’s actually better in many ways to remove them when they’re out mid-ocean than to be removing them after they’ve been destructive to reefs or marine life.”

Modern technology, meanwhile, has played a vital role in Ocean Voyages Institute’s operation with the use of GPS tracking devices. Unattainable nets are tagged and later captured by a larger vessel. Between the time the tagging device is placed and when it’s picked up, Crowley can see how the waste circulates around the islands.

“Even small pieces of debris can be very destructive to whales and dolphins and turtles,” explains Crowley. “I know people in Hawai‘i—many of the surfers and kayakers and rowers and sailors—are as passionate about the marine environment as I am. I encourage people, any time they spot anything they can pick up and remove from beaches or at sea, please do it. And if they spot something that’s too big to remove, try to take a photo and (log the) latitude and longitude, and we’ll try to get it removed.”

Once the plastic is removed from the ocean, the question remains of where it goes. That’s an easy response from Crowley. After the boat docks in Honolulu, the detritus are shipped around the globe, where Crowley has been experimenting with different sustainable methodologies, hoping to one day create enterprises locally.

A company in California, for example, turns these plastics into liquid. Another business transforms it into fuel. There’s even a corporation that creates building supplies, such as blocks and insulation boards. England, Germany and Czechoslovakia also run the gamut for upcycling artistry hot spots, where the plastic is transformed into dog leashes, jewelry and fabric.

“That’s why I spread things around so much, because I’m wanting to know how these technology work,” she says. “Today, I’m feeling really positive about all of them.

“I spent enough time in Hawai‘i that I realize now that Hawai‘i wants to create jobs that aren’t necessarily tourism,” she says. “Because Hawai‘i is sitting in the middle of areas with lots of plastic, it makes sense to have good recycling, upcycling and repurposing available.”

Although that may be a pipe dream for now, an aspiration that Crowley anticipates will come to fruition is tripling this year’s record by removing 1 million pounds of trash from the ocean in 2021. She hopes to garner more monetary contributions, which will mean ample vessels and crewmembers. But, the first steppingstone to almost anything is awareness.

“People sometimes ask my friend, Dr. Sylvia Earle, who is such an icon for oceans and such a brilliant lady, ‘What’s the most destructive thing for our oceans? Is it plastics? Is it overfishing? What is it?’ Her answer is, ‘ignorance.’

“I think if people understood how much of our plastic ends up in the ocean and how destructive that is for ocean life and the health of the ocean, and ultimately, our own health, they would be more careful to be sure things get properly disposed of and avoid using throwaway plastics.”
Visit oceanvoyagesinstitute.org