identifying oceanographic conditions that will likely aggregate or
concentrate debris spatially or temporally. Once a putative debris
area is identified indirectly, locating DFG items or aggregates for
removal is expected to require direct detection. Direct detection
involves identifying and locating specific pieces of debris through
remote sensing technologies or direct human observation.
A small number of focused efforts to advance the direct detection
of pelagic DFG have occurred in the North Pacific Ocean (Pichel
et al., 2007) and the Gulf of Alaska (Pichel et al., 2012) integrating
modeling, analysis of satellite remote sensing data, and airborne
visual observations. In 2008, a research cruise led by the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) tested the feasibility
and use of a prototype ship-launched unmanned aircraft system
(UAS) for the short-range detection of pelagic DFG with
modest but encouraging results (R. Brainard and T. Veenstra, personal
communication).
While these efforts and others have contributed information
needed to develop the capability to detect and remove DFG at
sea, the slow pace of progress toward the goal led participants in
the 2008 NOAA cruise noted above to propose that a cohesive, multidisciplinary
approach and strategy for at-sea detection of DFG
were needed. Here, we employ such an approach integrating
knowledge from physical oceanography, remote sensing technology,
marine policy, and marine debris studies to outline a strategy
toward efficient and reliable at-sea detection of DFG, with the ultimate
goal of locating and removing pelagic DFG.