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New development in Hilo Bay
#1
Does anyone know what's going on in Hilo Bay? There's a new thing that extends out into the bay, parallel to the breakwater, with navigation lights etc. It's west of the breakwater, i.e., within the bay, and seems to extend into the harbor area.

Did a quick online search but didn't find anything. It seems to have been constructed in the last week or so.

Thanks.
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#2
Could it be that boom used to clean up floating plastic waste? I saw on the news it was damaged and thus being towed to Hilo for repairs.
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#3
Tom, I think bystander is right. I read that this device had a breakdown and was being brought to Hilo Bay. My wife and I saw it, U believe, from Feeds Bay Park a few days ago. I'm thrilled to see any attempt to clean up the huge mess of plastics and other junk in our oceans.

Jon in Keaau/HPP
Jon in Keaau/HPP
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#4
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/201...ilo-today/
Thats it.

https://www.theoceancleanup.com/updates/...d-upgrade/
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#5
Give credit to the people trying to do this cleanup. They guy speaking about it on a TV clip, apparently the director, was young, enthusiastic.

I wonder if they got the proper engineering advice. The boom set-up is 2000 feet long (U-shaped), OK for a calm harbor, but suitable to be dragged around in the open ocean?

Ocean waves and currents are notorious for breaking things up. The Pacific north of Hawaii known for big waves (impacting things even in open ocean). When I first saw the contraption in California heading for the open ocean I thought it would break. It did.
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#6
I heard an interview with the young inventor. He said that he expected that there would be "kinks" to work out and is not disheartened. Others seems to have less patience.
Certainty will be the death of us.
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#7
Thanks for the explanation, everyone, I appreciate the quick responses!
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#8
Lots of background info in the article below about the Pacific Garbage Patch contraption being repaired in Hilo Harbor. Scientists and engineers have questions about its effectiveness:

But Martini and Goldstein aren’t the only scientists who feel their concerns went unheeded. Nor has critique been limited to structural issues, but whether the proposed system could collect plastic at all. When shark conservationist (and occasional Earther writer) David Shiffman asked 15 self-selected ocean plastic pollution experts for their take on the project, most voiced major reservations about its effectiveness. Experts doubted that the design could capture plastic, or avoid harming wildlife.
https://earther.gizmodo.com/a-kickstarte...1832459898
"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right - have fun." - Keanu Reeves
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#9
I been driving arround it all week. Its pretty big ,and nobody is working on it that i saw.


HPP

HPP
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#10
Interesting link from HOTPE. I thought the project was a boondoggle when I saw it, but the breadth of criticism is surprising. Some critics not only say the plastic collector doesn't work, but that it causes harm:

sublink: avoid harming wildlife.

https://discardstudies.com/2015/06/05/ho...uses-harm/

Several misleading arguments here:

"the Array doesn’t address the root of marine plastic pollution and diverts money and attention away from ceasing, mitigating, and slowing the creation of plastic disposables in the first place. "

They are not "(diverting) money and attention away from ceasing, mitigating, and slowing" anything. No one is prevented from working to push society away from plastics...

- - - -

"The leading research, education, and advocacy organizations around marine plastics seek to ban microbeads..."

True, microbeads are a much bigger problem. But large piece of plastic are somewhat of a problem. And they break into microbeads.

- - - -

" It’s like bailing out a sinking boat before you’ve plugged the hole that’s sinking it."

Yea, well not bailing at all isn't a very bright idea either.

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"Moreover, once any collected marine plastics are brought onto land, they are likely to eventually end up back in the ocean. Moving plastics from the water to landfills that will eventually erode or be covered in water is an act of deferring pollution."

False scenario. OK, some landfills in the next 5000 years will be breached by sea level rise. But many landfills are further inland. Most landfills do not erode; when they are filled to capacity they plant trees on top of them. Often they end up as parks (with hills). The plastic is sequestered.

- - - -

I won't discuss "By-catch and By-kill". TL-DR for now. Fascinating topic here.
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