Transcript Archipelagos Institute of Marine Conservation

Archipelagos Institute of Marine
Conservation
Michael Wiest and Regina Wang
Archipelagos:
- marine conservation institute
on a Greek island
- about 30 interns at a time from
many different countries
What we did in Greece:
-Surveys (terrestrial & marine)
-Necropsy (golden jackal)
-Jackal surveys (Emily’s work)
-Wildlife Library
Main Project:
-Microplastics!
Terrestrial Surveys: Chameleons!
And: hedgehogs and terrapins
Marine surveys:
-Underwater visual census
Awesome Cuttlefish!
And finally:
MICROPLASTICS!!!
What are microplastics?
• Plastic fragments <5mm
(>500µm)
• Typically:
polypropylene,
polyethylene,
polystyrene,
polyethylene
terephthalate, polyvinyl
chloride
• plastic resin pellets,
plastic products, plastic
product fragments,
fibres, rubber,
Styrofoam, plastic
sheets and sponges
Source and prevalence
• Macroplastics: fishing gear,
industrial production,
littering, and waste
effluent
• Microplastics: result from
photo, thermo-oxidative,
bio, and physical
degradation. Chemicals
contain them. Shipping
• Found on all 6 continents
• Accumulate in high
pressure areas (gyres)
Broader Implications
• Plastics resist biodegradation
due to short biological
timespan
• Can accumulate in organisms
• Microplastics accumulate
Persistent Organic Pollutants
(polychlorinated biphenyl,
Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethy
lene (DDT), Biphenol A)
Archipelagos past research
• 18 H. forskali and 4 H. tubulosa sampled:
– 24 hour sampling period
– Plastics found in all samples (max 32 fibres)
• 114 beach sites in 2009, 49 sites in 2011.
– Plastics at all sites
– Max concentration was 112 fibres/sample
Methodology
• Sediment:
– Add saturated NaCl soln. Agitate and let settle
– Filter and analyze through microscope.
• Holothurians:
– Keep in filtered sea water 24 hrs.
– Return to sea. Agitate and filter sea water.
Analyze
Ongoing research
• Altered methodology for mass
measurements
• Take sediment samples at depth rather than
distance from shore.
• Added sampling in proximity of Holothuria
for concentration comparison
• Sampling sites on Samos and six sites on
Oinousses
• Regina analyzed fish guts to study travel
through trophic levels.
Sediment results
Average plastics at depth
Fibers
Fibers
Total plastics at depth
Fibers/gram sediment
Holothuria results
Concentration difference (Holothuria)
Some pictures of fun times!
Some pictures of fun times!
Some pictures of fun times!
Some pictures of fun times!