Two weeks ago, Dr. Marcus Eriksen made history and headlines when he and Joel Paschal arrived on the shore of Honolulu after sailing across the Pacific Ocean on a raft made of 15,000 plastic bottles, makeshift sails and a Cessna fuselage. Eriksen and Paschal began the journey to draw attention to the disturbing issue of plastics in the Pacific Ocean. Tuesday night, Dr. Eriksen was inducted as a Smooth’s Sports Grille community legend in a ceremony and discussion featuring prominent local environmental groups Friends of the L.A. River (FOLAR) and Long Beach Surfrider.
The event was hosted as an early introduction to University By The Sea, which will be held in early October and offer a host of interesting classes and learning opportunities to Long Beach residents. U-Sea director Ryan Smolar oversaw Dr. Eriksen’s induction along with co-worker and former District Weekly contributor Jenny Stockdale – which created an unfortunate rhyming situation when Smolar introduced FOLAR.
FOLAR spokesperson Shelly Backlar addressed the crowd about current Los Angeles River issues such as soon-to-be-release toxicity reports about levels of pollutants in the water, and the issue of navigating the river by boat or kayak. Long Beach City Councilman Pat O’Donnell has been in contact with Backlar and FOLAR regarding the issue, as the Councilman frequently kayaks the San Gabriel River and found it unfortunate that no one is allowed to enter the LA River.
Dr. Eriksen also knows a little something about the LA River, having traveled down all 52 miles of it – on a raft made of Sprite bottle – for a documentary made a few years ago. Eriksen was kicked out of the river by police three times in the six days of shooting. He has also rafted 2,000 miles down the Mississippi River in an attempt to recreate Huckleberry Finn’s fictional voyage. Only Eriksen’s journey was made on “The Bottle Rocket,” which – you guessed it – was made of plastic bottles. He reached New Orleans and noticed sickening amounts of trash being released from the Gulf into the ocean, and made it his passion to raise awareness of the issue.
“It occurred to me that it was just wrong for us to allow all this trash to flow down our rivers and streams,” he said.
Dr. Eriksen holds the plaque that will commemorate his induction as a Long Beach Legend at Smooth’s Sports Grille.
Years later, Eriksen has tackled the issue on an ocean-sized scale, completing the 2,600 mile journey from Long Beach to Waikiki in 88 days. Hundreds of water samples were taken as they journeyed across the Pacific, many of the glass jars filled to the brim with tiny plastic particles that never disintegrate and marine predators mistake for plankton – tiny microorganisms that are a vital part of the ecosystem. In fact, Eriksen told a story about catching a fish and hoping to eat it before finding the animal’s stomach filled with more than one dozen plastic particles that could contaminate the meat with dangerous chemicals.
“The human health issue really concerns me,” Eriksen said. “There are plastics inside the stomachs of animals that we eat everyday.”
To continue to raise awareness, Eriksen and his fiancée plan to ride their bikes from Vancouver, Canada to Tijuana, Mexico next year – dropping off samples of the water he collected with environmental agencies, policy makers and government officials of all kinds to spread the message that something must be done. In fact, the trip is to be their honeymoon. The couple will wed on March 31, 2009, and begin their bike ride three days later.
The charismatic Eriksen would have no trouble spreading his message in any one of a thousand ways. So why the journeys? The adrenaline? The experience? Just for fun? A combination, he says, and so much more.
“I hate being behind a desk,” he says. “I like involving students. And I understand that people like a good story. And rafting across the ocean is a good story.”
By Ryan ZumMallen, Managing Editor
Disclosure: Smooth’s is an advertiser of the lbpost.com