this. place.

This is the birthplace of the North American Oceans Plastic Project.  Today project founders Andy Schroeder and Scott Farling met through a mutual friend (who happens to be a whale biologist) and spent the day following feeding humpback whales near Kodiak Alaska.
Scott Farling photo The whale watching was phenomenal, the weather couldn’t be better.  The ocean seemed endless, pure and invulnerable.  This was the scene when our conversation turned to our mutual interest in the problem of ocean plastics pollution. Ingestion of marine debris, which includes ocean plastics, has been documented in seabirds, fishes and marine mammals of the north Pacific.

A biologist from the Hawaiian Island Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary once told Andy that no fewer than 20 humpback whales had arrived in their sanctuary entangled in fishing gear believed to be from Alaska. Another study of humpback whales in northern Southeast Alaska found that 71% of whales observed had unambiguous scars due to entanglements in fishing gear (Neilson, 2006).

It turns out entanglement with nets and line (most of which is now synthetic polymers) is the biggest threat to baleen whales like this one.  Toothed whales on the other hand, are more threatened by ingestion than entanglement, which 77% of documented cases involving ingestion, 5% involving entanglement, and 18% involving both.

Put together, these man-made materials pose a significant threat.  Not just to whales, but to all marine life. It’s not too hard to see the potential to impact human health as well.  We didn’t let this though ruin our day on the water, but we couldn’t let go of it either.