AI cameras offered to sailors in Pacific to track plastic
Image courtesy of Ocean Cleanup
Sailors are being asked to fit AI cameras and use GPS trackers if they’re heading to the Pacific — specifically anywhere between California and Hawaii — this summer. The idea is to help map plastic in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP). Currently Ocean Cleanup (the Dutch non-profit in charge of the vision) has eight boats signed-up for the project which runs from July-September. Ideally it’d like 20 to 30 sailing vessels (it’s free to take part).
The organisation wants to track the patch, the world’s largest accumulation of floating plastic, using cutting edge and AI technology so it can clean it more efficiently in the future.
“To help us better target our extraction operations and clean up the patch more effectively and economically, we need to understand where the high concentrations of plastic are located,” says Laurent Lebreton, head of research at the organisation. “The sailing community can become citizen scientists and boost our efforts to solve this environmental crisis by signing up and being part of the solution.”
Those taking part will be given an Automatic Debris Imaging System (ADIS – AI camera), to monitor and map the distribution of the plastic debris. Sailors install the camera at the highest possible point on the vessel, make sure it faces the ocean surface — ADIS will do the rest.
Data (images of plastic) will be sent back to Ocean Cleanup’s HQ in Rotterdam. Then the organisation will map plastic hotspot concentrations and use predictive software to track its movement using ocean circulation, wave and wind data.
Sailors needed to be become ghost net hunters
As a ghost net hunter sailors will be asked to attach trackers to abandoned fishing gear. GPS tracking buoys will be used to tag lost, or abandoned, fishing gear and ghost nets and subsequently model where large items are floating, pinpointing them for future cleanup efforts.
“The GPGP is an ever-moving plastic soup that is impeding the ocean’s ability to help regulate the climate and is harmful to marine life,” continues Lebreton.
“Technology has a big part to play in the future ocean cleanup. The strategic integration of remote sensing from ships, drones, and satellites as well as the use of AI and particularly machine learning can revolutionise the detection, tracking, and removal of plastic debris.”
More information on the process is available on the organisation’s website.
The organisation’s mission is to rid the world’s oceans of plastic. It’s removed more than one million pounds of trash from the GPGP over the past four years. Estimated to contain around 100,000 tons of plastic, the GPGP covers an area twice the size of Texas and is mostly comprised of ghost nets and other fishing gear, complemented by a wide array of plastic pieces dating back to the 1960s.
Read the latest news about Ocean Cleanup and the work it’s doing
