The Great Ocean Cleanup
Kathleen P. Decker
a teen science student
scuba-diving in the Aegean
instead of crystal-clear waters
sees more plastic than turtles
sees more garbage than shells
he jettisons his studies
tinkering with equations and booms
optimizing filters, fiddling with nets
measuring rates of retention
experimenting with recycling
slowly, steadily, the plan takes shape
ships drag nets across the sea
sifting the surface for plastics and other waste
while whales, turtles and fish
gyre and gimble beneath,
and around the nets
unaffected, unafraid
The Great Ocean Cleanup
begins
with one teen
one idea
one plan
pick up the trash!
The Science
As of 2020, there were around three million tonnes of plastic waste floating in the oceans, a figure which increases annually by 4% (Kaandorp et al. 2023). Plastic pollution poses threats to the marine ecosystem and all species that rely on it (Gall and Thompson 2015). It also has a detrimental impact on humans. Because of its environmental and economic relevance, reduction of ocean pollution is listed as a target in the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 14: Life Below Water.
Boyan Slat dropped his studies in aeronautical engineering at Delft University to found a non-profit to clean the ocean of plastic waste. To date, the non-profit he founded, The Ocean Cleanup, has cleaned over 50 million kg of plastic waste. There are over 100 scientific articles supporting its initiative. This foundation has also spearheaded efforts to recycle plastic waste into usable material. The famous rock group Coldplay has released an album made from recycled plastic waste generated by the recycling process of cleanup invented by The Ocean Cleanup.
The Poet
Kathleen P. Decker, M.D. is President of the Poetry Society of Virginia, and past president of the National League of American Pen Women, Seattle Branch. She has written seven poetry books, most recently The Quilted Art and Poetry of Science, and edited seven poetry anthologies, most recently Making the Unseen, Seen (both by High Tide Publications, 2025). Non-fiction publications include Fit, Unfit, or Misfit, and over 60 peer-reviewed scientific publications. She is a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.
Next poem: Vistas by Catherine McGuire