North Atlantic Research with Help From a 12-year-old Sponsor

12 Open-Ocean N. Atlantic 2013 Samples with some of the biggest pieces we ever collect in our sampler

Six weeks ago, I returned from Bermuda with 12 more open-ocean samples all containing plastics.  We have been sampling the North Atlantic each summer four of the past five years with Dr. Maureen Conte, Woods Hole Institute, and now have a total of 46 samples. I have been in four oceans working with PlasticOceans.org, AMRF and 5 Gyres Institute and have helped collect a total of 210 surface samples, sadly all containing plastic fragments. What once came as a surpise to find all types of plastic in remote places on the planet, no longer shocks me.  Though I confess, I was holding out hope this year, that maybe, just maybe one sample in this remote area in the N. Atlantic would be plastic-free.  Now that would surprise me!  What was different that lead me to believe there was a chance? The ocean was much calmer than in previous years which we would expect to see more debris, but on the contrary, there seemed to be a marked difference in the amount of visual debris we saw floating by.  But what our surface sampler collected, made previous years appear scant.  So what did we find?  In the photo above, you are looking at the 12 vials loaded with plastic fragments smaller than 5cm, a white balloon (really!), plastic bag(another shocker), several bottle caps, lots of large fragments, and fishing gear, but the real kicker for me was scoring a milk jug ring. Can you find it in our stash?  It was serendipitous because the image below of the severely disfigured snapping turtle, Mae West, who had crawled through a milk jug ring when it was small, and due to the plastic's durability her body was forced to grew around it, is what influenced me to research this issue.

Mae West so named due to hour glass figure due to plastic milk jug ring

We have been fortunate to take students offshore over the years to learn how to collect samples and over the next several months, students from UNCW will learn how to process these samples in hopes of publishing the data from this long-term study.  Student involvement drives Plastic Ocean Project, Inc. to keep going and sometimes that drive comes from the most unexpected students.

A 12-year-old from the other side of the country, Annelie Miller, from  Mill Valley Middle School in California, decided she wanted to do something significant for the sake of our oceans in honor of World Ocean Day. She had been creating art out of non-recyclable materials as well as hand-painting pictures and notecards.  She sent a letter out to family and friends explaining the perils caused by plastic marine debris and asked that they purchase her art as a fundraiser for Plastic Ocean Project, Inc.  She must have sold a lot of her work because she raised over $700!  This donation that will help keep our research and outreach going.  Annelie has allowed us to post her painting found on Shutterfly, click here.  Thank you Annelie for your generosity, thoughtfulnes, and your passion for the sea. You have not only honored the ocean, but have helped us continue the work we do for the sake of our seas.  Annelie will be appearing on the http://sustainabilitynewsandentertainment.com/ with Diana Dehm.  Date and time TBA.

SEAing is Believing

SEA (Sea Education Association) from Woodshole has published the longest running research on plastic accumulating in the N. Atlantic gyre in this months edition of Science Magazine and has been getting much deserved publicity this week. Scores of friends and family have shared the many different venues of SEA's coverage. Thanks for the heads-up by Danny Barefoot, I found the radio interview with Kara Lavender Law on NPR.

After learning about Algalita Marine Research Foundation two years ago, I wanted to know if the plastic was accumulating in the Pacific, was it accumulating in the Atlantic. That is what inspired my research because no one was talking about there being a problem in the Atlantic. This January I presented with Kara Lavender Law in Oregon and found out about their 24+ years of data.

This summer they found 1069 pieces of plastic in just one half hour tow and we hope to reference their work with what we found once we work up our samples. Upon returning from our open ocean voyage in the N. Atlantic our ship this July, we parked next to the SEA's ship Cornwith Cramer and we had the privilege of touring the brigantine. I thought I might share some footage from our tour. Pardon the shakes with the iPhone - what you see mostly is their science lab.

This is a sailing vessel so you can only imagine how much work goes into putting up the sails along with retrieving samples and running experiments. Here you'll see just how much line in on board as the captain explains how they deploy their manta trawl off the side of the ship.

Here we have the living arrangements below. Note the bookcase on the fore wall and the sleeping bunks or berths along the walls in the common area where they eat and socialize.

What needs to be mentioned here is that SEA has been looking at plastic in the marine environment for over 24 years, yet their finding were not publicized until this year. Unlike Captain Charlie Moore, a person who not only observed the overwhelming amount of plastic in the ocean, sampled it, learned of its high concentrations and the devastation it brings to marine life, but he took his findings to the press because he knew the only way to stop it was to let the general public know there was a problem. Sometime scientists gets so caught up in the study that they leave out the importance of letting the public know their findings. Sometimes its due to the media getting it wrong either by over stating or sensationalizing or misquoting bringing embarrassment to reseachers.

Scientists have been studying plastic in the marine environment since the 70s and yet it wasn't until Algalita Marine Research Foundation got it to the mass media has it gained any awareness. Thank you Charlie Moore and Algalita for not only bring this issue to the forefront for me, but also for inspiring the research of SEA to bring their findings to the general public!