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During my morning beach walk the week of July 4th, I ran into our trusted patrol officer, Steve. No one knows the beach better. He is on the sand most every day 12 months of the year. We had a brief chat and I asked him what he had found on the beach so far. “Balloons and more balloons” he bemoaned. I then asked him how many. His response: “Only about 15,… Read More
Summer is back, but the plastic never left. This weekend, we arrived on Martha’s Vineyard and I went for my first walk of the season on South Beach. At first glance, the beach was totally unspoiled. When I looked closely, however, as usual plastic and balloons were found every few feet (see the picture above). If you Google plastic in the ocean, you will find many disturbing pictures of trash washed up… Read More
I will keep this short and just encourage everyone to look the slope of the increase in plastic in our oceans and the decline of fish populations around the world. Don’t sit idly by. Stand-up and be heard about the importance of the health of global fisheries. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-science-oceans-idUSKBN0OK28N20150605 http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/environment/brief/oceans http://www.nature.com/news/independent-study-tallies-true-catch-of-global-fishing-1.19197 http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120920-are-we-running-out-of-fish http://www.nature.com/news/fisheries-eyes-on-the-ocean-1.17121 http://www.worldwildlife.org/press-releases/more-than-85-percent-of-global-fish-stocks-are-at-significant-risk-of-illegal-fishing-wwf-report
At the end of the Summer, my family was fortunate to be able to spend many weekends on Martha’s Vineyeard (MV). The weather was wonderful this year and we enjoyed great moments together on the beach. Unfortunately, however, we again found many balloons in the sand and dunes. When I tell people that we pick up trash on the beach, I typically ask them what they think is the most common from… Read More
If plastic trash keeps growing at the same pace, it will outweigh fish in the ocean. This was the sad projection in a report from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. Ellen MacArthur learned more about the problem first hand during her record breaking solo sailing circumnavigation of the globe in 2005. According to research done by her foundation, most plastic packaging is used only once and much of it then finds its way into the… Read More
The America’s Cup. The most prestigous and glamorous sailing event in the world. It brings those passionate about sailing and the sea together with big business and serious advertising. At the last America’s Cup, the contest was particularly exciting. The match was the longest on record both in calendar time, and the number of races, with the U.S.’s Golden Gate Yacht Club staging an improbable come-from-behind victory, winning eight races in a… Read More
You can quickly run out of superlatives when talking about whales. They are the largest, loudest, longest-lived and most voracious animals on the planet. In particular, the sperm whale is one of the most magnificent. Sperm whales have the biggest brain of any animal – a massive 18 pounds compared to our human brain of only 3 pounds. At 65 feet long, they are perhaps the largest predators that have ever existed. They… Read More
Curious George A lovable cartoon figure and book that many children (including mine) love. What is not so lovely, however, is a washed up Curious George balloon on a beach. The picture on the left was taken early this morning on South Beach on Martha’s Vineyard. George was the first balloon I found. Being curious like George you might ask, “but what is the real harm in a party balloon on the… Read More
We are very happy today to be supporting World Oceans Day. Please help us spread the world about the importance of Clean Oceans! You can learn more at the following: World Oceans Day World Ocean Day Events Preston McSwain can be found during the day working as the Managing Partner and Founder at Fiduciary Wealth Partners. To see more of his posts about his day job, investments, and on issues such as… Read More
One of our first blogs on Clean Up Oceans was about at then 19 year old, Boyan Slat (see Innovative Idea post). We were excited about the possibilities that we first learned about in the below video (please take time for quick look – it is truly amazing). Now, less than a year after our first post, we are pleased to learn that this amazing idea has been funded and is scheduled to be… Read More