Strand: An Odyssey of Pacific Ocean Debris
Henderson’s love of beachcombing inspired her to become a volunteer for CoastWatch, signing up to patrol Mile 157 of the Oregon coast. Curious about the stories behind the flotsam and jetsam she observes, Henderson assigns herself intriguing missions. She travels to Japan to learn about the nearly lost art of making glass fishing floats. A brand-new Reebok running shoe is the catalyst for a trip to Shenzhen, China, to visit the shoe factory, followed by unsettling research into container shipping, the loss of consumer goods at sea, and the immense Eastern Garbage Patch, where ocean debris forms grotesque islands of lost plastic. A major die-off of the common murre, a deep-diving seabird, sparks a discussion of a crucial ocean phenomenon, the upwelling, and the damage done by oil spills. A beached whale, a buried fishing boat, each discovery leads to unforeseeable revelations. Subtle in its critique of our destructive impact on marine life and lush with delight in the marvels of ocean and shore, Henderson’s beachcomber tales net a bounty of new knowledge and clarifying perceptions. --Donna Seaman