Plastic waste is all at sea

Washed up: Litter found on a beach near Tromsø, Norway. (Photo: © Bo Eide.) In the 18th century, when James Cook explored the Pacific on the Endeavour, there were large islands still unknown to European civilisation for him to discover. When Darwin visited the Galápagos Islands with HMS Beagle in 1835, a wealth of biological diversity awaited scientific analysis. The most recent expedition setting sail to explore the Pacific, however, aimed at a much less enticing geographical feature than the Great Barrier Reef, and looked for threats to life rather than its diversity. When the 41-metre long brigantine Robert C. Seamans left San Diego, California, last October, it was headed for the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which, as the name suggests, is a large accumulation of marine litter trapped in the North Pacific gyre. Chief scientist Emelia DeForce and her 38-strong team couldn’t look forward to discovering new species of finches or even fish. Instead, they were to cast out their nets to fish for man-made debris floating in the ocean, much of it plastic. By the time the Robert C. Seamans reached Honolulu after 36 days at sea, the scientists and volunteers on board had logged nearly 70,000 pieces of plastic waste. Of 118 net tows, every single one brought up plastic material, and in the heart of the Garbage Patch itself, one tow alone yielded more than 20,000 pieces. Scientists will carry out further analyses in their labs at Woods Hole and in other collaborating institutions after their return, but it is already clear that the overwhelming majority of the plastic items found comes as very small fragments. Thus, explains DeForce, “because almost all the plastic pieces are millimetres in size, unless you are specifically looking for plastic, you won’t see it.” Outreach and creating awareness of this invisible mountain of waste was also an important element of this expedition organised by the Sea Education Association (SEA) from Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Updates on the expedition were regularly posted on the SEA website (http:// www.sea.edu/plastics), and team members are committed to spread the insights gained via schools, museums, and public events.