I spent a few days on Point Reyes and the Inverness Peninsula in California this summer. We hiked over 20 miles up and over this large piece of granite that is sliding out to sea along the San Andreas Fault. We enjoyed walking and swimming in the Pacific – brief dips in the cold water – and were also refreshed by the cool winds and mists. It is a beautiful coastline.

At one of the trailheads, I was surprised to read a warning about potentially hazardous debris from the 2011 Japanese tsunami. In my new book I have written about the trash accumulations in the oceanic gyres but had not seen prior examples of trash traveling 8000 miles from Japan all the way to North America. My interest was piqued. (more…)