Hit the Trail

 

          

Kaisei Sunk

The Kaisei, a large double-masted sailing ship whose mission has long been to raise awareness about the ever-mounting volume of marine garbage and the ecological threat it poses, is now the latest large piece of debris needing to be pulled from the water after it sank into the Oakland Estuary.

A steel-hulled brigantine built in Poland in 1987, the Kaisei — which 

means “Sea Star” or “Ocean Planet” in Japanese — is a replica of the 

galleons of yore, serving for years as a sailing training vessel in Japan.

Since acquiring the ship around 2001, Ocean Voyages has taken it on 

three separate expeditions in 2009, 2011 and 2012 to monitor and report 

on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. 

The Squirrel with One Green Shoe