Comments on: The Continued Boondoggle of the Ocean Cleanup

By: Dr. M

Dr. M — Sun, 13 Jan 2019 23:19:35 +0000

In reply to Andiv.

How about any of these four I clearly linked to in the article? https://www.sciencenews.org/article/ocean-cleanup-broken-system-other-trash-strategies. And it is Dr. McClain

By: Dr. M

Dr. M — Sun, 13 Jan 2019 23:17:59 +0000

In reply to Christine Robertson. The problem is anything designed to remove plastic, like fine mesh nets, will also remove substantial life from the oceans as well.

By: Dr. M

Dr. M — Sun, 13 Jan 2019 23:15:01 +0000

In reply to Dennis Shelton.

How about any of these four I clearly linked to in the article? https://www.sciencenews.org/article/ocean-cleanup-broken-system-other-trash-strategies

By: Dennis Shelton

Dennis Shelton — Sat, 12 Jan 2019 05:47:39 +0000

“As this article clearly lays out, we should focus our funding and time, on more promising solutions to the ocean trash problem.”
I can agree with you (provisionally) on this statement, but I have to wonder what those other “more promising” solutions are. Please name a few and point me toward a discussion of each. Thank you.

By: Christine Robertson

Christine Robertson — Fri, 11 Jan 2019 11:13:18 +0000

Hire the fishing trawlers of a small nation for two weeks and several empty freighters. Fish up the plastic with small-gauge nets, unload into freighters. See how effective it is. If it works, repeat until plastic is gone.

By: Andiv

Andiv — Thu, 10 Jan 2019 20:22:42 +0000

Ok, Mr McClain. As you suggest that „we should focus our funding and time, on more promising solutions to the ocean trash problem.“ I would be very interrested in those solutions. Could you please name a few of these solutions and describe why exactly they are more promising?

By: Judith Weis

Judith Weis — Thu, 10 Jan 2019 18:02:55 +0000

[comment deleted for violating commenting policy rule 4 https://www.deepseanews.com/about-2/commenting-policy/%5D

By: Larry Basch

Larry Basch — Mon, 07 Jan 2019 04:53:37 +0000

The following is in response to a recent article in USA Today and a similar one on NPR, which, disappointingly is neither researched nor does it present an opposing view. It applies equally her.

“I hate to say I told you so, but I attended the final arbiteur examination of the then student (now dropout, [Boylan Slat]), whose concept this project developed from, at the Technical University of Delft, TUD, in the Netherlands when I lived and worked next door at an international water research institute there., about 2012. I asked him several questions which he chose to blow off. [removed for violating commenting policy] His examining professors took notice of my questions and said to him you will answer the gentleman’s questions (I looked around wondering which gentleman they were referring to). I laid out several problems, not the least of which included the excessive weight that would be quickly added by the invertebrate fouling community, and that the project design lacked the scale to deal with the quantity of plastic present, that it would essentially choke, if it didn’t sink first. Of course as a Ph.D. in marine science with 3+ decades of experience I could be wrong. As I predicted several times in writing since 2012,, this project would not work. Unfortunately Dutch stubbornness in this instance is not a good thing. I wish the outcome at this point in time was more positive.”

In response to a friend’s comment that at least the guy is trying, I said: “ trying with poor ideas distracts from useful attempts, takes and wastes limited money from other, better prospects and causes more people to be discouraged and action-less thinking the problem is unsolvable. There are other, smart, people trying with well thought out, feasibly engineered, well tested [and modeled] options and good, egoless intentions who can’t get funding because of [removed for violating commenting policy].

In response a highlyrespected Dutch colleague wrote: “I’m still working at the institute where we were colleagues. And we’re still here trying to combat the ever increasing environmental damage being done. Not by spending time (and money) on ill-fated, albeit attention-seeking, prototype contraptions, but on science-based evidence on what will work. Hard work and research is the only way forward. Unfortunately the dutch government has also been fooled by our friend Slat, and spent precious research funds on his “research.”

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