It has a fancy name and there has been controversy behind The Ocean Cleanup’s efforts to remove trash from the open ocean, I have to admit I love their idea of stopping crap from washing into the ocean to start with.
Enter, the Interceptor:
Another view shows that it is a basic set up: booms extend to the shore and capture the crap that floats downstream. And there’s a lot of it.
It wasn’t running when I was there and I think that is normally the operation until enough stuff is in the maw at the front. There is a big conveyer that takes trash up to the top and drops it in bins at the back.
I believe the whole thing is supposed to be run on solar power and when we have solid rains here in LA, the Ballona Creek, where this Interceptor is located, will likely be working.
While out birding yesterday there was a fair amount of trash to be had on the rocky banks of the creek. So much that it made its way into a number of my photos.
Here’s a willet with some packaging on the rocks.
More info about the Interceptors and where they are deployed around the world can be found here: https://theoceancleanup.com/rivers/interceptor-original/