Remembering the GYRE Expedition

One of the most effective ways of drawing attention to ocean plastics I've seen the last decade was the GYRE expedition, organized by the Alaska Sealife Center. The expedition took a group conservationists, environmentalists and artists on a tour of the Gulf of Alaska to observe and document the impact ocean plastics have had on Alaska's coast. It resulted in a stunning museum exhibit which started at the Anchorage Museum and traveled throughout the United States, a short film (below) and this book. To this day, it remains one of the most poignant commentary I've seen on the crisis of ocean plastics.

In the spring of 2013 I got an invitation from expedition leader Howard Ferren to meet with members of GYRE during their visit to Wonder Bay, at Shuyak island. On a gorgeous day in June I flew in on a friend's float plane and met with Carl Safina, Andy Hughes, Pam Longobardi and others as the expedition stopped at Shuyak island. I spoke with them about Island Trails Network's cleanup efforts at Shuyak and elsewhere, and we combed through the rubble of Wonder Bay (which at that time had not yet been cleaned).

R/V Steadfast in Katmai National Park, 2019. Ron Shue photo.

On this day I also caught my first admiring glimpse of the Steadfast (then called the Norseman); a stout, handsome and well-appointed research vessel which hosted the expedition. At that time, I had no idea I would one day own the vessel and put her to work in the same mission.

Today the Steadfast has returned to Alaska to continue her work in ocean plastics, this time chartered by Ocean Plastics Recovery. OPR just announced the Steadfast will be the platform for our first expedition for 2020 a large-scale research and conservation project on the coast of Kodiak island timed to occur during the annual gray whale migration.