Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

GoPro for a Cause Spotlight: Tackling the Trash Tsunami with The Ocean Cleanup

28/06/2022

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.
LINK: https://gopro.com/en/gb/news/the-ocean-cleanup-trash-tsunami...
See more stories from gopro

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

02/05/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Search, Faster Editing, and an AI-Ready Foundation for Modern Media

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

01/05/2026

NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to Integrate Dolby's Full Suite of Premium Picture and Sound Innovations

January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...

15/04/2026

Winter Olympics, Super Bowl Power NBCU-Versant to Gold Medal Performance in Nielsen's February Gauge Reports

NBCU-Versant notches 13.1% of TV viewing in February, its best since August 2024...

15/04/2026

Nielsen CMI shows New Zealand's over-65s are a growing, cashed-up and still-working audience brands can't ignore

New data reveals older Kiwis are financially resilient, loyal to local products,...

15/04/2026

aconnic launches ACCEED 4430 10 Gigabit system for high volume enterprise and business service aggregation

aconnic AG (ISIN: DE000A0LBKW6), Munich, announces the market launch of the ACCE...

15/04/2026

Autocue to Mark 2026 NAB Show Debut of its New PTZ Prompter

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

15/04/2026

Locality Deploys Nielsen's Media Data Engine

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

15/04/2026

Viant Announces Agreement to Acquire TVision

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

15/04/2026

Evergent introduces Agentic Revenue Orchestration Platfor...

Evergent introduces its Agentic Revenue Orchestration Platform, transforming how subscription businesses across direct-to-consumer streaming, pay-TV, telecommun...

15/04/2026

CentralCast Delivers Breakthrough Efficiencies to Public...

Harmonic's XOS Media Processor Delivers Exceptional Video Quality to More than Half of U.S. Public Media Viewership Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announce...

15/04/2026

DPA N Series Wireless System Unlocks Duplex Gap and Guard...

LONGMONT, COLORADO, APRIL 15, 2026 DPA Microphones N Series Digital Wireless System users in North America can now take full advantage of the system's exc...

15/04/2026

Cobalt Iron Launches Compass Tape Gateway Modernizing IBM...

Cobalt Iron, a leading provider of SaaS-based enterprise data protection, today announced the launch of Compass Tape Gateway (CTG), a transformative enhancemen...

15/04/2026

Disguise to Showcase Cutting-Edge Experience Tech for Sports, Broadcast and More at NAB 2026

Disguise to Showcase Cutting-Edge Experience Tech for Sports, Broadcast and More...

15/04/2026

Arooj Aftab Makes the Music She Wants to Hear

Arooj Aftab Makes the Music She Wants to Hear The singular artist explores the juxtaposition of grief and joy, dark and light, in her distinctive sound. Apri...

15/04/2026

Panasonic, NEP Partner on IP-Based Live Production

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

15/04/2026

Encompass Digital Media Powers Global Cloud Transformatio...

Interra Systems, a provider of end-to-end quality assurance solutions for the digital media industry, is proud to announce its central role in the digital trans...

15/04/2026

Viaccess-Orca Powers MasOranges Multi-Brand TV Expansion...

VO Integrates Client-Side and Server-Side Ad Technologies with its Secure Video Player and Segmentation Tools, Leveraging Broadpeak's SSAI and BPK SmartLib ...

15/04/2026

TMT Insights Unveils AI at NAB 2026

TMT Insights, a leader in professional services and software development for the media and entertainment (M&E) industry, today announced the launch of TMT AI at...

15/04/2026

Encompass Digital Media and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure E...

Encompass Digital Media, a global leader in managed broadcast and cloud-based media services, today announced an expanded partnership with Oracle Cloud Infrastr...

15/04/2026

Middleman Software Debuts PhaseLock Technology and Expand...

Middleman Software, a leading provider of signaling and synchronization solutions for broadcast and streaming workflows, today announced it will unveil PhaseLoc...

15/04/2026

Deity Announces PR-4 Compact Field Recorder

Deity Microphones today announced the PR-4, a compact six-track field recorder featuring four inputs, 32-bit float recording, advanced routing, and a workflow-f...

15/04/2026

Blackmagic Design Announces Fairlight Live

Blackmagic Design Announces Fairlight Live Brie Clayton April 15, 2026 0 Comments Powerful software-based live audio mixer with support for SMPTE-2110...

15/04/2026

Haivision Launches Falkon X4 5G Transmitters

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

15/04/2026

JB&A Spotlights Exhibitors Ahead of Pre-NAB 2026 Technology Event

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

15/04/2026

Wave Central, EVS Announce SMPTE ST 2110 Interop Collaboration

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

15/04/2026

Top Reason for Subscribing to Pay TV Is Live News and TV, Survey Finds

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

15/04/2026

NAB Leadership Foundation Honors Outstanding Broadcasters

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

15/04/2026

Wisycom Expands MPR60 With New Multichannel IFB Mode

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

15/04/2026

Thomas Riedel Acquires Premium Manufacturer ARRI

Strategic Alignment With the Riedel Group for Innovation and Growth Thomas Riedel, founder and owner of Riedel Communications and the Riedel Group, has acqui...

15/04/2026

Iyuno Deploys SDVI Rally Platform to Accelerate and Scale...

SDVI, the leading platform provider for cloud-native media supply chains, today announced that the company's Rally platform has been deployed by Iyuno Media...

15/04/2026

Frequency Leads the Industry in Live Local News on FAST

Frequency, the engine behind many of the worlds leading streaming television channels, has become the platform of choice for leading U.S. broadcasters bringing ...

15/04/2026

Harmonic Introduces Breakthrough AI Orchestration Service...

New Service Simplifies Integration of AI Applications with Exceptional Reliability and Security SAN JOSE, Calif. April 14, 2026 Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) t...

15/04/2026

VIDI and Media Links Bring Scalable IP Transport to Germa...

During the 2025 off-season, VIDI completed a major upgrade of the broadcast infrastructure across all 36 stadiums in Germany's 1st and 2nd Bundesliga. The p...

15/04/2026

Clear-Com Introduces Transformational Arcadia and Eclipse...

Clear-Com announced significant updates to its award-winning Arcadia Central Station as well as enhancements to the Eclipse HX Digital Matrix System now runn...

15/04/2026

Shotoku Introduces the World to Aura P2 PTZ Prompter Panner at NAB SHOW 2026

Shotoku Introduces the World to Aura P2 PTZ Prompter Panner at NAB SHOW 2026 Brie Clayton April 15, 2026 0 Comments New system removes PTZ pan restric...

15/04/2026

LiveU Announces Expanded Collaboration with Sony at NAB Show, Adding Direct File Workflow Integration

LiveU Announces Expanded Collaboration with Sony at NAB Show, Adding Direct File...

15/04/2026

This 24-Hour Performance Art Piece Needs Your Participation

This 24-Hour Performance Art Piece Needs Your Participation Keefer Glenshaws latest project is about collaborating with the Berklee community and beyond. Apr...

15/04/2026

Five Decades of Box Office Intelligence: Comscore Celebrates 50 Years of Movie Measurement

Five Decades of Box Office Intelligence: Comscore Celebrates 50 Years of Movie M...

15/04/2026

Rethinking AI TCO: Why Cost per Token Is the Only Metric That Matters

Traditional data centers only stored, retrieved and processed data. In the generative and agentic AI era, these facilities have evolved into AI token factories....

15/04/2026

RT announces new crime drama The Yank starring Kate Mulgrew and Colm Meaney

Two Cities Television and Keeper Pictures to produce six-part series in association with Screen Ireland for RT and ITV Studios RT has commissioned Two Citie...

15/04/2026

RT unveils The Signal' a specially commissioned 60-second film to celebrate RT100

RT 100 RT unveils The Signal' a specially commissioned 60-second film ...

15/04/2026

New Adobe Premiere Color Grading Mode Accelerated on NVIDIA GPUs

The NAB Show 2026 trade show, running April 18-22 in Las Vegas, is set to showcase a wave of new features and optimizations for top video editing applications. ...

14/04/2026

ToolsOnAir and Omnistream Bring Mobile SRT Contribution into Professional 24/7 Playout and Live News Workflows

ToolsOnAir and Omnistream Bring Mobile SRT Contribution into Professional 24/7 P...

14/04/2026

NAB 2026: Haivision Launches Falkon X4 5G Mobile Video Transmitter

Haivision has announced the Falkon X4, a 5G mobile video transmitter for live broadcast and remote production. The device will be showcased at NAB Show 2026. ...

14/04/2026

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Stripe TVs Matthew Pavey on Making Live-Production Tech More Portable, Intuitive, and Accessible

Founded by veterans of the production-truck world, Stripe TV was born out of a d...

14/04/2026

Studio Berlin Adds LDX 135 and LDX 180 Camera Systems from Grass Valley

Grass Valley has expanded its partnership with Studio Berlin, supplying 12 LDX 135 UHD/HDR camera systems and 12 LDX 180 Super 35mm cinematic cameras, including...