Following Sea
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Celebrating over one million miles sailed FOLLOWING SEA 2008-2009 Annual Report Issue Winter/Spring 2010 INSIDE I Plastics at SEA I Annual Report 2008-09 TABLE OF CONTENTS Winter/Spring 2010 Cover Story Plastics@SEA Collection of plastic marine debris in the Atlantic results in dedicated plastics expedition . .1 Features The Hallstein Fellowship John Wigglesworth and family establish a fund to support medical training of shipboard staff and crew . .18 In Every Issue Passages Events and news of general interest . .5 Science Corner Introducing SEA’s new science team . .20 Currents Alumna Sally McGee, C-134 . .21 Special Report 2008-2009 Report to Donors From the desk of Board Chair, Linda Cox Maguire . .6 Annual Report . .7 Following SEA Winter/Spring 2010 Editor: Jan Wagner Design: MBDesign, mbdesign-us.com Photography: Colleen Allard, Courtesy Mary Engels, Courtesy Kara Lavender Law, Aislinn Open ocean neuston tow taken from the Martin, Courtesy Sally McGee, Courtesy Giora spreader of the SSV Robert C. Seamans. Proskurowski, Courtesy Jeff Schell, Courtesy Justin Smith, Tracy Sylvester, Courtesy Nate Twichell, John Wigglesworth Following SEA is available online. If you’d like your prints, slides, or digital images considered for the next issue contact: Kerry Hannigan, ext. 20 or [email protected]. Sea Education Association, Inc., PO Box 6, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543 Phone 800-552-3633 Fax 508-457-4673 www.sea.edu Recycled Chlorine-Free Paper / Vegetable based Ink A 22-year record of collecting plastic marine debris in the Atlantic leads to Plastics at SEA: North Atlantic Expedition June/July 2010. Sea Education Association is preparing to conduct the first-ever research expedition dedicated solely to examining the accumulation of plastic marine debris in the North Atlantic Ocean. The expedition, scheduled to begin in June, will expand upon a 22-year data set previously collected by SEA that reveals a region of extensive plastic pollution in a narrow latitude band in the western North Atlantic Ocean. This trip will explore an area southeast of Bermuda that is believed to be an extension of that high plastic pollution region and is perhaps the Atlantic Ocean version of the region of the eastern North Pacific Ocean dubbed the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch.” Paul Joyce, SEA dean, said the expedition is a natural extension of the efforts in measuring plastic debris by SEA students and staff for decades. “SEA’s physical data sets contribute to our understanding of the distribution and ultimate fate of plastic in the The majority of ocean,” said Joyce. “Every one of the several thousand students who has helped collect plastic pieces and count plastic debris over the decades has been important contributor to this work collected are small and has gained a much fuller understanding of how the oceans work and the role humans (less than 1 cm, in play in the present and future of the oceans.” length and less The expedition is funded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) and than 0.15 g in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Marine Debris weight), less dense Program, and is in collaboration with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and than seawater. Woods Hole Sea Grant. The Henry L. and Grace Doherty Foundation provided additional funding to support educational outreach for this project. The cruise, scheduled for June 10-July 14, will take place on the SSV Corwith Cramer, SEA’s 134-foot brigantine-rigged sailing oceanographic research vessel. The crew will consist of 11 professional mariners and up to 22 additional participants, most of them SEA Semester alumni. The expedition will explore a region not previously sampled by SEA that is hypothesized to be an extension of the previously measured high plastic pollution range. It will follow a 3,300 nautical mile saw-toothed cruise track extending more than 1,100 nautical miles east of Bermuda. The expedition will feature a website with daily updates on the scientific findings and shipboard life, including multimedia content. Drs. Giora Proskurowski (l) and Kara Lavender Law (center) presented plastics research at the AGU Ocean Sciences Meeting. (right) A 3,300 nautical mile saw tooth cruise track is planned for Plastics at SEA: North Atlantic Expedition. Following SEA Winter/Spring 2010 1 Key Results of Current Data Results of studies conducted over the last 22 years on plastic marine debris were presented at the Ocean Sciences Meeting in Portland, OR on February 24, 2010. Scientists from SEA presented the results from a 22-year record of plastic marine debris collected in the western North Atlantic Ocean, and an 8-year record collected in the Pacific Ocean. Key results include: I A previously unidentified large region of the western North Atlantic has been found to contain high concentrations of plastic debris. The highest concentrations of plastic observed in the Atlantic are comparable to those observed in the region of the Pacific commonly referred to as the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch”. I No discernible trend was observed in the amount of plastic from 1986-2008, despite the fact that the production and disposal of plastics increased during that time period. I The majority of plastic pieces collected are small (less than 1 cm, in length and less than 0.15 g in weight), less dense than seawater (i.e. they float), and consist of polyethylene, polypropylene, and polystyrene foam. Map showing SEA plastic marine debris I The most common method for measuring plastic in the ocean, surface plankton net tows, were used, but sample areas. Each red dot indicates the more recent studies done by SEA indicate that this method may dramatically underestimate the total location of one surface plankton tow. amount of plastic in the upper ocean because wind energy mixes plastic down away from the surface. Answers to Frequently Asked Questions A press conference was held at the Ocean Sciences Meeting on February 24, 2010 that resulted in international media attention and the publication of a written response to questions generated by news outlets that were interested in the story. Drs. Kara Lavender Law and Giora Proskurowski created written responses to the most frequent questions from the press. How was this data set collected? Since 1971 SEA has been taking undergraduates to sea in the SEA Semester program. On a six-week open- ocean cruise students conduct original research in ocean science. To support this research a plankton net is towed at the sea surface twice daily to collect biological organisms, as well as plastic and any other floating debris. Students then sort through the sample to handpick and count all plastic samples collected during the tow. Since 1986 more than 6,100 plankton net tows have been conducted by more than 7,000 undergradu- ate students. It is unprecedented for undergraduates to be primarily responsible for a high quality and high impact baseline data set such as the plastic debris data set in the North Atlantic Ocean. How is the region of plastic pollution in the Atlantic defined? Over the past 22 years SEA has conducted surface net tows in the western North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, in a region ranging from Newfoundland to Venezuela, and from the east coast of the United States to 600 miles (1000 km) east of Bermuda. More than 64,000 individual plastic pieces were collected in more than 6,100 locations where a surface plankton net was used to collect plastic debris as well as bio- Plastic pieces, less dense than seawater, logical organisms. Throughout the entire region sampled, 62% of tows contained plastic, and the highest con- shown floating in the sample area. centrations of plastic were observed in a region centered at 32°N (roughly the latitude of Atlanta, GA) and extending from 22°N to 38°N latitude. What does this plastic debris look like, and what kind of plastic is it? The majority of samples were irregular fragments less than 1 cm in size with a mass less than 0.15 g (roughly 1/10th the mass of a paper clip). The majority of plastic pieces are not identifiable as common objects, with the exception of fishing line and industrial pellets. However, physical properties of 750 plastic samples collect- ed in the Atlantic Ocean indicate the collected material is HDPE (high density polyethylene), LDPE (low density polyethylene), and PP (polypropylene), which are used to make common consumer items such as milk jugs, plastic bags, and drinking straws. These materials have a density less than that of seawater, causing them to float on the sea surface. Other commonly used plastic types such as PET (polyethylene terephthalate), PVC (polyvinyl chloride) and PS (polystyrene solid) were not observed in the open ocean, but were observed on U.S. east coast beaches. These materials are denser than seawater and likely sink before reaching the open ocean. The properties of plastics appear to change during their time at sea, possibly due to weathering and biological growth. Has the amount of plastic increased in this region over the 22-year period of the study? In the 22-year record, no strong increase in plastic content has been observed in the region of highest plastic accumulation (22°N - 38°N). A decrease was observed in the number of industrial pellets collected during this time period; however, the plastics record is dominated by post-consumer fragments rather than pellets so this decrease cannot account for the lack of trend observed. 2 Following SEA Winter/Spring 2010 How does this region compare to the Pacific’s “Great Garbage Patch”? This long-term baseline data set provides the best scientific description of the While SEA cruises have heavily sampled the western boundaries of these regions extent of plastic pollution to date, which can be used to make better manage- of higher plastic concentrations, the eastern geographic boundaries of both ment and policy decisions, as well as to inform popular conceptions of this issue.