Ocean Iron Seeding Scheme in Limbo
Thanks to a public outcry, a plan to seed the ocean with iron dust near the Galapagos Islands has been thwarted. As IGTOA reported last year, Planktos, a California-based private company, planned to dump tons of iron dust into the ocean in hopes of encouraging plankton blooms, which according to the company would then absorb carbon dioxide. Planktos would make money from the carbon offsets supposedly produced. But scientists and conservation organizations (including IGTOA) widely denounced the plan.
The Planktos’ ship, Weatherbird II, was headed for waters near Galapagos when the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society threatened to intercept and stop it. It went to Bermuda, where it also found a Sea Shepherd ship. It has since sailed on, looking for another location. The last word was that it was near the Canary Islands, but was being thwarted from entering port there.