Sailing Nahoa · video

What this video covers

Plastic debris, including abandoned fishing nets, industrial containers, and household waste, accumulates on the remote atolls of French Polynesia.0:29 Ocean currents, specifically the South Equatorial Current, transport this refuse from as far as Asia and South America, often taking one to three years to reach these islands.16:36 The crew of the 45-foot catamaran Nahoa navigates narrow, current-swept atoll passes using satellite maps and Starlink to access anchorages behind motus for protection from shifting winds.3:38 While exploring these shores, the crew identifies debris from local pearl farming operations, such as polypropylene ropes, alongside international maritime waste.8:26 They advocate for collecting and moving plastic to the center of islands, away from the high-tide line, to prevent further fragmentation into microplastics.11:43 The crew also utilizes the Windy.com currents layer to visualize how global ocean circulation patterns connect distant coastal pollution to the remote South Pacific.15:40

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