80% of marine pollution comes from the land. 85% of it is plastic – the most harmful material. Plastic pollution threatens not only marine species but also humans – it affects food quality, human health, and coastal tourism, and contributes to climate change. 17 tons of plastic waste are dumped into the oceans every minute.
A recent reference study, led by Laurent Lebreton who is a member of our International Scientific Advisory Board and the scientific director of the Dutch NGO Ocean Cleanup, indicates that approximately 80% of the total annual plastic emissions in rivers across the world can be attributed to 1,000 specific rivers. The solution is to prevent plastic waste from flowing into the oceans while collecting it in the areas of high concentration such as coastal areas, mouths, mangroves, etc.
That’s precisely what MOBULA 8 is meant to do.
Designed with the French SME EFINOR SeaCleaner, MOBULA 8 is going to be a part of the national strategy set up by Indonesia to reduce plastic pollution. It arrived in Benoa harbor and is ready to get to work in the south of Bali.
Later it will be transported to other areas of the island where cleaning is necessary.
Its design was inspired by whales: on the bottom of the boat, there is a compartment that opens exactly like as fish mouth and collects everything on the way.
All the waste goes into a basket and then it the collected material is unloaded on the table in the middle of the deck. There it gets sorted and goes into recycling.
At first, MOBULAs were designed to be supplementary collection vehicles for the MANTA, and were intended to be mounted at the back of the large ship, in the docks.
Their purpose was to operate in narrow, shallow, and inaccessible areas where the MANTA cannot reach due to limited maneuverability. The MOBULAs would collect the waste and return it to the MANTA, where it would be processed and transformed by the on-board waste-to-energy unit.
In addition to the satellite MOBULAs, The SeaCleaners now plans to acquire a fleet of solidarity MOBULAs to operate in various parts of the world, providing assistance to countries that are most affected by pollution in their aquatic environments and have limited infrastructure to manage and control the waste.
This new initiative aims to better address the needs of these countries.
MOBULA 8 is brought to Bali by an amazing organization The SeaCleaners.
Yvan Bourgnin, the founder and sailor himself, states their mission as “Fighting for a pollution-free ocean is a necessity for survival and a promise we make to our future generations. It is also an aspiration to beauty and freedom that drives us all.”
“We act with the conviction that only a global approach to plastic pollution” – corrective and curative as well as preventive, this will allow an awakening of consciences and a radical evolution of uses, thanks to a pioneering approach around the use of advanced technologies and the demonstrated success of innovative depollution solutions.
Refusing fatalistic or wait-and-see stances, we have chosen a proactive and holistic approach in order to make a mark on people’s minds around the following dynamic: “demonstrate to convince and multiply actions on a large scale”.
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To contribute to cleaning up the oceans and aquatic environments and to recycle plastic waste
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To understand plastic pollution, develop and widely disseminate scientific knowledge
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To sensitize and mobilize all publics in order to raise awareness and bring about lasting changes in behavior
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To ensure an optimal management of ocean waste and promote local dynamics in circular economy.
With organizations like The SeaCleaners, with those who apply a proactive approach, choosing to take action along with raising awareness, humanity has a great chance of preserving biodiversity, saving the Earth, and as consequence saving ourselves.
You can support The SeaCleaners by becoming a volunteer or donating at their website theseacleaners.org
