Student Connection

Just in from the Ship

TC-99-10 Reef Restoration / Marine Debris Survey & Removal
October 6 - November 4, 1999

October 26, 1999  The NOAA Ship TOWNSEND CROMWELL and the Coast Guard Cutter WALNUT have been working together and clearing many tons of marine debris from the reefs surrounding Lisianski Island and Pearl and Hermes Atoll.

The Coast Guard Cutter WALNUT is a type of ship called a buoy tender. This ship has a large deck and crane which is ideal for handling the net debris. The process starts with a survey of the reef. Divers are towed at slow speed behind small boats and look from side to side for signs of net and rope. When they find something, they signal to the boat so that they can drop a buoy to mark the debris for later recovery. The divers hold on to a small board which acts sort of like a kite that they fly by hand so that they can maneuver side to side to increase the area that they inspect and avoid obstacles such as coral heads. After the reef has been surveyed, the recovery begins. Coast Guard and NOAA divers swim down to the net and remove the tangled mess from the reef, trying to keep the damage to the fragile coral to a bare minimum. The net is then hauled by hand into the small boats for transport to the WALNUT. Some nets are too big and have to be towed slowly behind the small boats for miles, dodging the shallow areas, back to the WALNUT to be lifted aboard by crane.

On the buoy deck of the WALNUT, the net is examined by scientists who gather detailed information about the types of net that end up here. They will use this information and their knowledge of the fishing industry to determine where the net came from. This is a tedious, messy, smelly task, but that is what science is about sometimes. While we have been concentrating on derelict fishing net, we have picked up every kind of plastic debris you can think of. Hairbrushes, sandals, drink bottles, and toothbrushes are among the huge mounds of tangled net and rope that have been recovered. If you look at a globe and try to imagine how big the North Pacific is and how small these atolls are, you wonder how much net might be out there drifting around. The ship will soon be headed for Midway Island where biologists and volunteers have been collecting net from the reef and beach for some time. We will load this debris on the TOWNSEND CROMWELL and the WALNUT for transport back to Honolulu where waste contractors will incinerate most of the debris and turn it into electricity.  

Other Reports From Cruise 99-10

• October 14
• October 26
• November 01

Last modified October 27, 1999