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Tracking Ocean Trash by Satellite
DoubleWhopper writes "From the "Intersting Use of Technology" file comes this article on NOAA's tracking of oceanic debris with satellites used for tracking fish. From the article, "...during three days of study, about 2,000 individual pieces of debris were seen", and, "A number were balls of net up to 30 feet across." The researchers verified the information with the aid of a NOAA aircraft and digital imaging."
Truly depressing.
Yay to fucking up the planet!
With this tracking technology, now someone could go out and pick this stuff up. Greenpeace could use their Zodiacs for something besides chasing whalers. Seriously, this could lead to a potentially profitable salvage operation.
"Lack of technical competence coupled with the arrogance of power, as usual, leads to no good end."
There are not octopus in Texas coastal waters where crabbing is done. And the money for the cleanup is minimal, only what it costs to have game wardens et al oversee the activities. The actual cleaners are volunteers.
Ignorance is curable, stupid is forever.
Having seen first-hand the crappy conditions out oceans are in after several years in the Navy I think this is a good thing. It is also a good thing because navigational hazards such as trash create all sorts of problems. Perhaps by tracking the trash they can eventually find who dumped it there.
I'm not a troll, but I play one on Slashdot.