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Plastic Ocean
April 16 , 2008
A Soupy Trashy Sea
dumping plastic - our oceans are becoming the garbage dump
A "plastic soup" of waste floating in the Pacific Ocean is growing at an alarming rate and now covers an area twice the size of the
.
The vast expanse of debris – in effect the world's largest rubbish dump – is held in place by swirling underwater currents. This drifting "soup" stretches from about 500 nautical miles off the Californian coast, across the northern Pacific, past Hawaii and almost as far as Japan.
It is believed about 100 million tons of plastics are circulating in the region.
About one-fifth of the junk – which includes everything from footballs and kayaks to Lego blocks and carrier bags – is thrown off ships or oil platforms. The rest comes from land.
A former sailor came across the sea of waste by chance in 1997, while taking a short cut home from a Los Angeles to Hawaii yacht race. He had steered his craft into the "North Pacific gyre". He was astonished to find himself surrounded by rubbish, day after day, thousands of miles from land. "Every time I came on deck, there was trash floating by," he said in an interview.
According to the UN Environment Program, plastic debris causes the deaths of more than a million seabirds every year, as well as more than 100,000 marine mammals. Syringes, cigarette lighters and toothbrushes have been found inside the stomachs of dead seabirds, which mistake them for food.
So please…RECYCLE your plastics! Our oceans are not trashcans! Do you have video or photo of floating trash or some obscure observation from our Oceans? Upload it to SplashVision today and tell the world to clean up their act!
That’s a (biodegradable) wrap!
- The SplashVision Team (if you liked this, forward it to a friend)
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QE2 Historic Departure
April 16 , 2008
One legacy ends, and another begins…
RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 - Historic Departure Fort Lauderdale
In true Royal Fashion, the Queen Elizabeth 2 departed Thursday with a flotilla in her honor.
For the past 36 years, the QE2 has made Port Everglades her winter home.
"It's a great way to send a ship out," said Ellen Kennedy, spokeswoman for the port. "It's a traditional thing for ships to have a flotilla. It's being part of history."
And send her out they did! With helicopters, news reporters and spectators- in balconies, restaurants and boats, from bridges and shore, all waved a fond farewell to a long loved legacy.
The regal ship departed port about 5 pm on Thursday, and after being sent off by local and visiting boaters (many of whom came just for the event!) she is now headed to a new life in
Dubai
as a floating hotel, museum and mall.
Dubai
purchased the legend late last year for an estimated $100 million dollars. Before beginning her new life, she will be restored to her original condition, and a portion of the ship will be a museum dedicated to her rich and illustrious history. The QE2 will be delivered to Dubai World in November 2008 and is scheduled to open at the world’s largest man-made island, The Palm Jumeirah, in 2009.
Watch our exclusive footage of the QE2 Flotilla and upload your footage of the event as well!
With Royal regards, that’s a wrap!
- The SplashVision Team (if you liked this, forward it to a friend)
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Top Gear Leaves the Road
April 15 , 2008
Wet Wild Challenge !
Car-Boat Challenge - Top Gear
If the blokes on Top Gear (BBC) didn’t already have the coolest job in the world, they certainly have one of the most entertaining!
For anyone who doesn’t know, Top Gear is an auto-centric show that also happens to be one of the funniest shows on the planet. These are just normal guys- not mechanics, not racers, not anything remotely related to the car industry- slow poke James is a pianist,
Hammond is a radio DJ and Jeremy Clarkson, a writer.
Anyways, along with testing super cars such as Lamborghini’s, Ferraris and the like, they also have ‘challenges’ that the Top Gear producers set up for them. In this episode, their challenge was to build a boat from a car and have it sail across the lake to a certain point. First one there, who car drive their car out of the water, wins.
Imagine the Three Stooges trying to take on this challenge. This is what the entire show amounts to.
Right from the get go,
Hammond breaks his propeller and is sinking, and needs to be rescued by Clarkson. Clarkson has his own problems with his ‘Toyboata’, and takes on water and is valiantly trying to bail it out. It’s not working so well. The truck flips- right at the end line and Clarkson and
Hammond end up in very cold water. Which leaves James May as the winner. A rare occurrence indeed. Although his clutch went and he was unable to drive up the slip, which to Clarkson and Hammond means, he didn’t win at all.
They also recently did a similar challenge- only they had to cross the
English Channel .
Have you made your own amphibious car or some other type of vessel? Send your video to SplashVision today and share your escapades with the rest of the world!
CUT! Oops…I mean, That’s a wrap!
- The SplashVision Team (if you liked this, forward it to a friend)
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