Go GYREx!

Gyrex participants sharing ideas in the setting in which the work will be conducted

Marine debris is a major threat to the integrity and heath of marine ecosystems in the North pacific.  Over the past two years, ASLC Director of Conservation, Howard Ferren has been working on a  concept (GYREx) to bring together scientists and artists to promote greater public understanding of this issue and to generate a greater collective effort to reduce the amount of debris entering our oceans.

Last night, on one of those glorious Seward spring evenings, we bought together some 20 partners in GYREx to further discussion of the project concept and strengthen our commitment to the ambitious 2012 timeline for the project.  Committed partners to date include, the Anchorage Museum, Dr Carl Safina from the Blue Ocean Institute, US Fish and Wildlife Service and US National Parks Service, National Geographic film maker JJ Kelly, Photographer, Kip Evans, Multimedia artists artists including Pam Longobardi and Sonja Kelliher-Combs and the Marine Conservatuion Alliance Foundation. 

With support from Major Marine Tours, the group made the short hop over to Thumb Cove where we anchored and spent a very pleasant evening discussing how best to bring art and science together to reduce marine debris... I can truly say that the conversations were some of the best I have ever had on this subject!

Howard and Dave Gaudet explaining the expedition concept with a map provided by the Marine Conservation Alliance Foundation

Expedition planning and fundraising will now accelerate over the summer - if you'd like to know more about how to get involved or otherwise contribute, please contact Howard Ferren (howardf@alaskasealife.org).