In 2018, GoPro for a Cause championed The Ocean Cleanup, a non-profit organization with the objective of ridding the world's oceans of plastic. GoPro was there for the launch of The Ocean Cleanup's first ocean cleanup system, which was deployed from San Francisco Bay on a bold mission to clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. As of June 3, 2022, The Ocean Cleanup has removed more than 1.2M kg of trash from oceans and rivers worldwide.
And there's much more work to be done. The Ocean Cleanup aims to tackle 1,000 of the world's most polluting rivers in order to reduce the flow of plastic into the ocean.
The latest project is in Guatemala's Rio Motagua basin, where an unnatural phenomenon occurs during each year's rainy season. A trash tsunami propels enormous quantities of plastic into tributaries and rivers, and eventually into the Caribbean Sea. That's up to 20M kg of plastic flowing into the Caribbean Sea-every year.
The situation on the Rio Motagua calls for innovative ideas and a specific solution for a specific problem. The Ocean Cleanup is working with local authorities in the region to improve waste management and to stop the trash tsunami with a new system: the Interceptor Trashfence, which they have named Interceptor 006. On May 26, 2022, the Trashfence was given its first real-world test during the first flash flood of the rainy season.
The Ocean Cleanup crew members Florent Beauverd (Head of Creative and Documentary Productions) and Dan van der Kooy (Executive Producer of Documentary Content) take us behind the scenes to tell us more about this catastrophic yearly event, and what they're doing to stop the flow of plastic into the sea.
GoPro: Tell us about the trash tsunami. What causes it?
The Ocean Cleanup: The Rio Motagua is the largest river in Guatemala, stretching from the highlands in the west down to the Caribbean Sea in the east. What makes the Rio Motagua situation unique is that an urban landfill sits literally on top of one of its tributaries, the Rio Las Vacas. Like many other rivers in the region, the Rio Motagua also suffers from unlicensed waste dumping.
During the rainy season, these factors lead to exceptionally heavy flows of trash-a trash tsunami-flowing into the river every year, adding to the plastic pollution problem in the Caribbean Sea. We estimate that more than 20M kg of plastic flows through the Rio Motagua basin on an annual basis. This amounts to roughly 2% of the world's overall plastic emissions to the oceans.
What is the Interceptor Trashfence?
The Interceptor Trashfence is an experimental system developed to address the specific nature of the pollution problem in the Rio Las Vacas. Its a custom-engineered steel screen measuring a massive 50 meters wide, 8 meters tall and spanning the entire river gorge developed over several years with technical partners and local authorities. In May 2022, we began our first trial of the Interceptor Trashfence on the Rio Las Vacas tributary in the Rio Motagua Basin.
The Interceptor Trashfence faced its first trash tsunami on May 26. Initially the fence held back the torrent of plastic, but ultimately gave way under the heavy force of so much trash. However, we learned a huge amount from this first trial, and we always knew this would be an experimental process. We're going to optimize the design and deployment to improve the system and prevent these trash tsunamis reaching the oceans. For example, we're considering raising the height of the fence and potentially installing more than one Interceptor Trashfence system on the Rio Las Vacas.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by The Ocean Cleanup (@theoceancleanup)
--
Why did you choose GoPro?
For this specific project in Guatemala, we needed to find a way to capture on video an extremely sudden (and unpredictable) flash flood that generates a trash tsunami. Although this location is particularly difficult to get to, we needed to record high-quality footage to show the urgency of this phenomenon to the world, and how we are trying to tackle it. We relied on GoPros for this project for three reasons: simplicity of use, high quality of footage and reliability in all weather conditions.
We've been using GoPros for a wide variety of applications over the years, from getting impossible creative shots allowing us to visualize and share our work in more compelling ways to using GoPros as a scientific tool for gathering data. GoPro cameras have become part of our toolkit for understanding the problem of plastic pollution and visualizing how we solve it.
What's next for The Ocean Cleanup?
To rid the oceans of plastic, we need to clean up what is already out there and stop new plastic from entering the ocean-we need to close the tap. Working together with government leaders, individuals and private corporations, our goal is to tackle the 1,000 most polluting rivers all over the world.
More trash tsunamis will rush through the Rio Motagua throughout the rainy season. We're working with local authorities in the region to improve waste management and we will continue to improve our Interceptor Trashfence system to stop the flow of plastic to the Caribbean Sea.
How can the GoPro Community help The Ocean Cleanup tackle this issue?
Supporters are welcome to learn about our Interceptor Trashfence project in Guatemala by reading this update. You can also track our worldwide impact in real time. And you can donate to The Ocean Cleanup here.
You can learn more about getting involved with GoPro for a Cause here.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
09/10/2026
September 10 2026, 06:00 (PDT) Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026
New Sports Intelligence helps providers better unders...
08/10/2026
Modern venues have come a long way since the tinny, echoing audio of the mid 20t...
08/10/2026
ESPN's first Super Bowl production will stream in English and Spanish on Disney+, while the ESPN App carries the full slate of game, ManningCast, studio, an...
08/10/2026
From high-school videoboards to War Eagle Productions, the Opelika native is learning how to lead shows and capture big moments
The future of live sports produ...
08/10/2026
The Television Academy and Prime Video have announced a six-year agreement making Prime Video the exclusive global home of the Emmy Awards beginning with the 20...
08/10/2026
Techex will exhibit at NAB Show New York 2026 (Booth 623, Javits Center, October...
08/10/2026
X Games has announced the appointment of Steve Rogers as Chief Operating Officer. Rogers previously served as COO of World Supercross and spent nearly a decade ...
08/10/2026
Fonn Group has appointed Trevor Spielmann as Sales Director for Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Spielmann joins from EVS, where he held sales and business de...
08/10/2026
The flagship program will originate from major PG events with a four-camera production, live distribution across PGTV, social platforms
Perfect Game is bringin...
08/10/2026
Innovation rarely happens in a vacuum. More often, it happens at the point of collision: when worlds that have run on separate tracks begin to converge. That is...
08/10/2026
For decades, the production and broadcast services business has run on a familia...
08/10/2026
Uplynk, Zixi, BroadView Software, and Grass Valley have published The IP Converg...
08/10/2026
The NFL has announced the return of the Big Data Bowl, the league's analytics competition, now in its ninth year and again powered by AWS. Registration is o...
08/10/2026
Eutelsat has renewed its partnership with T l diffusion d'Alg rie (TDA), Algeria's national broadcasting network operator, for continued distribution of...
08/10/2026
Disney will livestream Super Bowl LXI on February 14, 2027, alongside the game's broadcast on ESPN and ABC. All Disney subscribers in the United States wi...
08/10/2026
RHStv and Red House Streaming have announced an expansion of their partnership w...
08/10/2026
Gray Media has announced a distribution agreement with TEGNA and DAZN to simulca...
08/10/2026
SVG readers can save 10% on registration and receive a complimentary Solutions H...
08/10/2026
PROTON Camera Innovations GmbH has been named a recipient of a 2026 Technology a...
08/10/2026
Industry leaders discuss real-world cloud workflows for live game production, pl...
08/10/2026
The next-gen audio technology joins Dolby Vision as part of Apple TV's immersive F1 experience...
08/10/2026
David France, Jesse Short Bull, Mato Wayuhi, N. Bird Runningwater, Jodi Archambau, Jhane Myers, Paul McGuire, Amber Morning Star Byars, Holly Macarro, Nick Tils...
08/10/2026
Dynamic panning plug-ins get an upgrade
Sound Particles have just announced major updates for two of their popular dynamic panning plug-ins. Energy Panner 2...
08/10/2026
New expandable instrument boasts full DMNO engine
UDO Audio have just announced the upcoming release of a new, expandable synth that packs the power of the ...
08/10/2026
Two new subwoofers added to monitoring line-up
ADAM Audio's monitoring range has just been expanded with two new DSP-equipped subwoofers, the Sub8 PRO a...
08/10/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
08/10/2026
Calrec gives broadcasters freedom of choice at NAB Show New York We're looking forward to meeting up with you all at NAB New York on 21st-22nd October.
Cal...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Globecast, a leading provider of broadcast, media and entertainment managed services, will showcase its next generation of media orchestration services at NAB S...
08/10/2026
Clear-Com played a critical role in the production communications infrastructure for Rock in Rio 2026, one of the world's largest and most recognized music...
08/10/2026
Sohonet Launches ClearView Rush: A Leap Forward in Studio Review, Built for Crea...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Ikegami announces a major expansion to its range of broadcast-quality live production cameras. Scheduled for introduction on Ikegami booth 708 at NAB New York, ...
08/10/2026
Calrec will be located at Booth 444.
Freedom to choose
The media landscape is evolving quickly, and the broadcasters best placed for what comes next will be...
08/10/2026
LiveU has announced that CRD Audiovisuel relied on LiveUs LU900Q intelligent production unit, with built-in native LiveU IQ (LIQ ) connectivity, to deliver live...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Marshall Electronics, a globally recognized provider of high-performance video solutions for broadcast, streaming, AV and professional production, will exhibit ...
08/10/2026
14-hour package also includes A Remarkable Place to Die season 2 as well as libr...
In 2018, GoPro for a Cause championed The Ocean Cleanup, a non-profit organization with the objective of ridding the world's oceans of plastic. GoPro was there for the launch of The Ocean Cleanup's first ocean cleanup system, which was deployed from San Francisco Bay on a bold mission to clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. As of June 3, 2022, The Ocean Cleanup has removed more than 1.2M kg of trash from oceans and rivers worldwide.
