Plastiki: First Landing

The Plastiki landed today on Christmas Island, completing the first major leg of its 11,000-mile sail from San Francisco to Sydney to explore the Pacific Garbage Patch and surrounding seas. The goal: to raise public awareness of the ocean's pollution from plastic and other man-made, non-degradable substances that are killing marine and bird life in rising numbers. The leader of the voyage, British banking heir David de Rothschild, is joined by five others, including Olav Heyerdahl, the grandson of Thor Heyerdahl, who achieved fame in 1947 when he sailed his balsa wood raft, The Kontiki, from Peru to French Polynesia to explain how the Polynesian islands came to be inhabited by South Americans.

Follow the journey on Twitter, @Plastiki, and check out the crew's blog updates.

Gyres from The Plastiki on Vimeo.

[Photograph: Christmas Island lagoon, courtesy The Plastiki]