If the Silver Supporter keeps its promise and joins us today, it could save us from a complex logistical problem by retrieving a significant portion of the heaviest bags.
We will meet it again in Pitcairn in a few days, and we will be able to transfer them to another ship, this time a French one, the Aranui, which kindly offered to help us transport this unusual cargo to Tahiti.
But the morning progresses, and we have no news from the Silver Supporter. We call Plastic Odyssey’s bridge and ask them to try to reach them by radio. Silence. No sign of their approach. We are alone in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with tons of waste on our hands. We will have to fill our cabins with buoys if we want to load everything! Tensions rise. The overall mood worsens. We see these dozens of Big Bags that may not be able to leave today piling up again and again during raft trips.
In the meantime, on board, Maxime and Baptiste have initiated the workshop: they crush, wash, and wring out the hard plastic that we sorted on the beach, instantly turning it into a valuable resource in our eyes. We are eager to see the result. But we still have no news from our friendly ship that is supposed to join us to help. Finally, around noon, a VHF call instantly boosts our morale: the Silver Supporter is arriving soon! And a few tens of minutes later, three experienced Pitcairn residents with a sharp knowledge of the reef head towards us in their two fast boats that they have just launched. We get active! No time to catch our breath; we must tow the buoys while the tide is with us. We tow the four garlands, each measuring about 150 meters long, offshore.
The Pitcairners lend us a helping hand, and it’s safe to say: they hoist, tow, and swiftly load the few buoys that give way and drift away from the garlands. In barely two hours, everything is loaded onto the deck of the Silver Supporter with its orange hull. This boat strangely reminds us of the Victor Hensen when we bought it and before its transformation into the Plastic Odyssey.
Now it’s the turn of the Big Bags. Four to five are loaded on each trip on our makeshift platform. We tow this load with the two jet-powered vessels of the Silver Supporter and our Zodiac Milpro. In less than 1 hour and 30 minutes, 23 Big Bags leave the world’s most polluted protected island and join the SS.
On the beach, we breathe a sigh of relief, we shout for joy, and we congratulate each other. We radio a message to thank the SS crew, who, in turn, thank us for our action. A new chapter begins. Now, we can start collecting the new waste (those that have accumulated since the previous expedition in 2019) overwhelming the beach. A radio update informs us about the onboard recycling workshop: Maxime and Baptiste have run the machines all day. 11 out of the 13 Big Bags we loaded are already transformed! We conclude this day with an evening full of joy. All teams are very united, and everyone is happy to have successfully completed this beautiful first step. The beach no longer looks the same; it feels quite empty without its large plastic bags and colorful buoys.
Summary of the day and the extraction on the Silver Supporter: 4 tons of nets, 2 tons of buoys, 11 Big Bags filled with 100 kg of hard plastic have been processed: the plastic has been crushed, washed, and dried and is ready to be transformed into tables and benches for the island of Pitcairn!
Other news
Days 9 & 10: Transformation of Plastic Waste
After spending a week on Henderson extracting tons of plastic waste polluting the island, we set sail as night falls. Heading towards Pitcairn Island....
Days 7 & 8: Last Days on Henderson
In the early hours of the morning, we traverse the long kilometer to the southern end of the beach, laden with water and empty Big Bags to commence the last waste collection....
Day 6: Crossing the Coral Reef by Air
Today is Sunday, and we're trying to mark the occasion by treating ourselves to a lie-in. A few hours of free time: some go for a run, others explore the extremities of the beach....
Day 5: First Parachute Trials
The usual rhythm takes shape: by 6 o'clock, most team members are already operational. This morning marks the beginning of the major collection!...
Day 4: Arrival of the Silver Supporter
If the Silver Supporter keeps its promise and joins us today, it could save us from a complex logistical problem by retrieving a significant portion of the heaviest bags....
Day 3: The cleanup is intensifying
Operational from 6 in the morning, we start working before the sun overwhelms us. By 7 o'clock, the temperature rises sharply and becomes almost unbearable....
Day 2: First Waste removal
The sun has risen on the East beach of Henderson Island, where 12 of us have spent the first of our seven days on site. As quickly as possible, to escape the scorching sun, we spread out along the entire length of the beach and begin gathering the Big Bags....
Day 1: Installation and launch of the cleaning operations
After a first night off the coast of Henderson Island, the Plastic Odyssey teams gather early to set foot on the East beach of the island. Today's missions: set up the camp, carry out surveys, and test the systems for transporting plastic waste packaged in Big Bags......
First steps on Henderson Island, covered in waste
On Monday, February 12, 2024, the Plastic Odyssey vessel and the expedition crew arrived off the coast of Henderson Island. Circling the island from its southern side and taking advantage of favorable navigation conditions....